


b l a c k b r o o k

by astrojams



Category: No Fandom
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:40:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 30,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21515422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astrojams/pseuds/astrojams
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Undisclosed Relationship(s)
Kudos: 2





	1. 287 days before..

Before we start, let me introduce myself; My name is Grayson Blackbrook, I am of eighteen years of age and recently, I overcame high school. No one likes high school, if you say you do or did then you're lying or you're not considering every horrific thing it it could have in store for a person. Especially a weakling, like myself. 

However, I can confidently say that, although half of the teenage population detest high school, no one does as much as I do. From the minute I stepped through those big blue doors in my freshmen year, I knew I was going to have the worst time of my life. I, just like several thousands of teenagers, was convinced that my crippling anxiety, coldhearted parents and overall desire to not be alive was going to shut me down before I turned eighteen. 

It's 1995 and I'm still alive though, so take that.

Anyway, you're probably thinking that this is a book about me being an awkward piece of shit and trying to be happy and find love like every other damn person in this world, but it's not. As much as I am a pessimist, I still never thought about my future self writing something this personal and terrifying. Something that I'm sure will still be my most vivid memory the day before I die, probably my last thought too. I'm going to tell you about the disappearance of Aiden Cohen. The summer before junior year, my best friend, Aiden went missing. It was just for a week and he returned for a single day shortly after. The 15th of July. After that day, he disappeared again. And this time, it was for a much, much longer time. He was gone. Like he had vanished from Blackbrook altogether. And with Aiden gone, his friends started to go down their own paths one by one. But it didn't end there. Trust me, I wish it had. However, things were always more complicated than that. 

Aiden's case was never solved, he was never found and no one found a single clue to help anything. Firefighters, police, practically all of Louisiana was aware and looking for Aiden Cohen. But he was gone, end of story. 

Coincidentally, Ivy Bloom, talk of the town, the heart and soul of our best friend group, moved away as soon as he vanished. She had a sort of 'uncle' living in the North part of Blackbrook, more commonly known as "Crow Ground.", the name of a gang that practically ran the entire town in the shadows, everyone knew it existed, but rumour has it they had some type of agreement with the cops, who to my knowledge are the lousiest, most idiotic policemen I know. Ivy moved in with her so called uncle who I believe was just her father's best friend, and stayed there for the whole of our junior year. She didn't text us, call us, write us melancholic handwritten letters expressing her yearn for our hang outs near the woods while we drank and smoked till we couldn't stand. Specifically, the times we would have thirty minute laughing fits or get caught in a storm. Those days didn't really seem to matter anymore. We didn't hear from her for three hundred and sixty five days. I was practically the only human that had seen her in all that time.

I took the bus to Crow Ground one day out of curiosity. Ivy used to tell me about how scary she thought the neighbourhood where her uncle lived was ever since she was little. She'd talk about it all the time for some odd reason, describe it or tell Aiden and I how it made her feel. We would just ignore it, but even as a kid I knew something was wrong with the whole situation. When I got off the bus, I clung to my bag, anxiety inevitably creeping up in my body, what a fucking surprise. According to what she used to tell me, I tried to find a place that matched it. After about two hours of just walking in circles, I reached a trailer park where people had their vans, bikes and RV's stationed.

At the very back, there was an actual house (quite shabby though, don't get your hopes up, it's North Blackbrook) with a rainbow windmill right in front of it, bingo. Ivy told me about the windmill many times before, she told me she would play with it and distract herself for hours looking at it.

Just when I was about to walk closer to the door, I watched a thin and tan girl stumble out of it clumsily. I felt off. Once she looked me in the eyes, I saw them grow wider and nervous. As did she. The girl had gotten worryingly thinner, cheekbones standing out graciously just like the black under her eyes. Her hair was also longer and messier. A new washed out shade of light brown that looked nothing like the short dark brown hair I remembered. I noticed a scar on her face, a cut right at the near end of her eyebrow, it was quite deep but didn't seem entirely fresh. Jacket hanging half off her body and a pack of cigarettes in her hand, she seemed zoned out. Ivy always kind of did, but now more so.

"G-Gray?"

"Ivy? Holy shit, I haven't seen you in, two months now? How are you? Safe? Happy?" She tried to hide the packet between her fingers, knowing I hated tobacco smokers. "You need to leave, right now. It's not safe here, if someone sees the boy that is literally named 'Grayson Blackbrook' in Crow territory, they'll kill you. I-I'm fine - In good...hands. Don't worry about me" I knew she was lying, I knew her as well as she knew herself.

"Bloo, don't lie. You know if shit isn't okay here you can count on me." At this point, I didn't know how to approach the situation. We'd been best friends since we were three years old. My head became troubled by too many things I wanted to ask her. Mainly, why she had left me during the worst possible time of my life. If she were in Blackbrook at that time, I knew things would've been a hell lot easier for Lucas, Aurora and I. Ivy was the glue that stuck us all together and Aiden was the person we all relied on when we were upset, with both of them gone, we were hopeless. "I'm fine. C-Can you tell Aurora I miss her? And that I still have her fur coat. And...tell Lucas I'm sorry." She said while looking at the floor sadly. I could tell she wasn't herself anymore. It's what made me determined to get her back where she belonged.

"I have a spare room at home." "Yeah, you do. You have six spare rooms. You used to have five, but now he's gone" Tears threatened to spill from her big hazel eyes yet she held a cold relentless stare. As if I had forgotten how hard this whole situation was for everyone. For her. I started to ponder if anyone would eventually worry about me too. The obvious conclusion from those set of thoughts was a firm no.

"Don't say that. Don't just give up like that, Bloo. It's Aiden we're talking about here! Where could he have gone? I-I haven't stopped looking for him. Just-" My rambling had appeared to be interrupted by the girl in front of me starting to shake her head aggressively. I was confused, didn't she want to see him again? Didn't she miss Aiden? "I can't think about him, Grayson. It's driving me crazy. Everything and everyone is too much for me, as you can see" She said, waving the tobacco in the air while laughing awkwardly, trying to lighten the mood although it had died down months back. A piece of my heart broke off at the sight and then, I had officially given up. Didn't take that long, did it? "Okay. Text us, please. Let's see each other again soon, maybe we can all-"

"Go. Gray, just go back home. I'll text you, just leave. Bye, nerd." And she brushed past me faster and harsher than the cold air that followed her. That was the last time I saw Ivy. We didn't meet up again, she didn't text me either. Both of my very own best friends since I was a toddler had left me faster than I could process. Besides receiving the comfort and support from Lucas and Aurora, it wasn't the same. I hadn't known them my whole life like I did Ivy and Aiden. My parents, being the richest, most successful and disgustingly known couple in Blackbrook, given the fact that we came from the family of the founding fathers of the town, knew every wealthy person attending their black and white themed party in 1981. Aiden's parents are both prestigious Harvard graduates that run most of the hospitals in the North of Africa. Not only were they madly in love with each other, but with their careers as well. So much so that Aiden practically grew up in my house. His parents would leave for half a year to various countries in Africa and come back to then start working for their future plans. They never really had time for their son. By the time he was eleven, he saw them only three or four times a year. Not that he cared really. Cohen was full of affection and care but he barely knew his parents and they barely knew him. The feeling of unfamiliarity was mutual between the family.

Him and I met a few hours before we met Ivy. Our parents introduced each other and left us in the unnecessarily enormous playground they had installed when I was born. Because apparently newborns can play in playgrounds by themselves the second they come out the womb. I still question that decision. The only reason we became friends was because three year old Aiden hugged me and swore we'd be best friends forever after seeing my custom made children Star Wars tie. He thought it was the coolest thing ever, which it was, and that's how we met. A few hours later, we were running all over the garden while waving our lightsabers around mindlessly. So mindlessly, that I had failed to realise my lightsaber had hit a little girl on the head. She turned around after feeling the impact and touched her head. Light eyes scanning Aiden and I. Seconds later, she started to cry. You know when little girls cry so intensely that most of the sobs are screams? Yeah, so does Ivy Bloom. I still remember Aiden and I trying to calm her down, in the end, the only thing that worked was the lemon candy I pulled out of my pocket. One of our maids, Roberta, my absolute favourite ever since I was a baby, would stuff a single piece of candy in my pocket every day to cheer me up if I got sad. To be completely honest, she still does it. Don't judge. She looked about our age but she was undeniably tinier. Her big doe eyes stood out even then with chubby cheeks and bangs. Aiden and I, both three year olds that were in a conflicting moment in their life due to society pushing us to think that she was weak and stupid girl, were kind of scared of her at the same time.

After she had finished sucking on her lemon candy, she crossed her arms and looked at us with a deathly stare, one I didn't know cute little girls could pull off. This is how I knew she was an evil little shit. Love her though. "...Scared?" She asked, voice raspy although little. Aiden looked at me and we nodded innocently. "Wow! I'm Ivy" And although we were mildly terrified of her, we became friends. Best friends. 

Along the years our relationship evolved to a far more family like one. Ivy, although born only a few months after than us, was like a younger sister to the both of us.. We've always been protective of her and made sure no one messed with her, it just felt like the right thing to do. By the time we were ten years old, Ivy told me she had a tiny crush on Aiden. Predictable, as he acted older than what he was and was going to be insanely good looking in a few years.

We were also the only real boy figures, along with Lucas years after, that Ivy associated with since her father had passed away when she was eight. She never talked about him much, never wanted to, according to her. From what I could gather, Ivy was always kind of scared of her father. Or perhaps didn't understand him. Oh but did she love him, more than anyone in the world, much more than her mother, which she felt embarrassed to say with such ease and from a young age. Once she developed her crush on him, the crush I could now tell was mildly obvious, Aiden also started acting much clingier than usual. Which made me feel like a complete third-wheel by the way, since you're probably already thinking it. But that wasn't the case that often since Aurora and Lucas were already around. Lucas and Aurora, where to start. I'll go for chronological order.

Aurora James is the daughter of the CEO of Morgan Stanley. One of the most powerful banks of the USA. To put it shortly, her family is not to be messed with. She was born and raised in New York City. Her relationship with her family meant everything to her from a very young age and she was as humble as can be despite her being spoilt constantly by her parents. Aurora has always been hard headed, she got what she want most of the time not because she was rich but because of her argumentative tendencies. Ivy's dad had taken her with him on a two week trip to New York when she was seven, exactly a year before he passed away. When he took her to Times Square, although all the bright and colourful screens were extremely time consuming, Ivy found herself too distracted by a pretty long black haired girls' dress. It was white with the puffiest princess skirt she had ever seen. So naturally, she ran up to the girl and introduced herself. She was pleased to learn that the girl's name was Aurora James. They spent every day of her holiday together, Aurora showed Ivy New York with her family and the brunette hadn't remembered being that happy ever. The two girls became best friends. When they said goodbye, Aurora told Ivy they'd see each other soon and that it wasn't the last time to make her feel less sad. Ivy didn't know that literally meant she would be able to convince her parents to move all the way to Blackbrook. She had never met such a charming and smart seven year old. Aurora then became part of the friend group and we were four members.

Of course, that stopped being true in the fifth grade. When a boy called Lucas Falls moved to town from Los Angeles, California. We were all ten to eleven years old at the time, Ivy and Aurora were starting to look even prettier than before, Aiden and I were heavily invested into video games and suddenly a boy entered the class on the first day of the fifth grade. He had a somewhat lazy, relaxed voice and pretty green eyes that Ivy stared at harshly when he asked to sit down with us at lunch. "No, you cannot. This is a closed circle, we're happy with four people-"

"Is that a bow and arrow Nerf gun?" I asked interrupting a very stubborn Ivy. I saw the toy poking out of his backpack and I still remember feeling my eyes sparkle at the very nod of his head. "Sit! It's fine! Don't listen to Ivy, she's kind of nuts." So he did and he chuckled lightly at my comment.

Ivy whined and looked over to Aiden and Aurora with a pout "We're all best friends, he's not one of us, this isn't fair! Grayson is being a dick." I recall laughing at that and making whiney faces to imitate her towards Lucas, cracking a smile from the tanned brunette boy. Aurora then put her arm around Ivy cooly "V, why don't you just let him sit? You know he's not going to do any harm, we're still best friends, just hanging out with another person." She always had a way with words that would calm down Ivy, even at ten years old.

"Fine. My name is Ivy Bloom. It's not very nice to meet you." She said, putting her long brown hair behind her ear and then crossing her arms in a bratty way.

"She'll warm up to you eventually. You can hang with us anytime, being new sucks. I'm Aiden Cohen." We all introduced ourselves to him and with time, he had slowly morphed into the group. Only a year and a half later did Ivy start to somewhat tolerate him. By the time she was fourteen, Aurora said she caught her giving him heart eyes because Lucas falls was one of those people that had been pretty looking since they were a baby. But Ivy always made it clear that she found him awfully annoying. Lucas was a charm, although his sass could sometimes come off as rudeness he had a certain twinkle in his eye that made people love him. He moved to Blackbrook with his sweet and caring mother in hopes for a change. Six months after meeting us, Lucas told us that his dad was a heavy drinker and would try to hit him and his mom. Sometimes he actually did. For no apparent reason, he said. But I always wondered if there was one. He passed away due to a car crash on the highway and neither him nor his mother could say they were truly sad. Wanting a fresh start, they moved to Blackbrook. Because what place is more further away than the tiniest fucking town in Louisiana. Lulu, as Aurora called him was truly just a slightly damaged, class clown like boy with effortlessly perfect looking black hair and a button shaped nose that meant good. All he truly wanted to do was make insane memories and have fun with his friends. And annoy Ivy all day because he loved the way her cheeks would get red when she was mad.

The summer after we finished the ninth grade, Aurora spent the entire summer in New York and in Amsterdam visiting family and Aiden and I decided to go to a summer camp somewhere in France that our mainstream white families had suggested. It was incredibly fun, I would do it all again in a heartbeat if I had known that he'd disappear the summer after. Since we were all out of town, Ivy, who never really left for summer since she was alone at her house all the time, her mum moved to Canada because she fell in love with some guy. She had left the second Ivy turned fourteen and was surely mature enough, which was a rare case, and illegal, but Ivy had the mentality of a much older girl, still tiny though. A whole five foot four and a half. Nevertheless, she practically lived alone in her big empty house, her mother would come to visit every now and then, but it was awkward.Her relationship with her mom is a difficult, more elaborate story for another time.

Anyway, Lucas and his mother loved it in Louisiana, the only place they were going to for summer was New Orleans for a couple of days. Besides that, he was there all summer. Him and Ivy spent the summer together and after that, she started to treat him just like any of us, sometimes she'd spend more time with him than any of us. No one knows the details of that summer, only they know everything that happened. All we know is that they became fantastic friends after it.

Fast forward to before Aiden vanished, when we were all around sixteen. We were all happy, you see. Aurora was head cheerleader _and_ running for class president, Aiden had gotten his star position on the football team that he'd always wanted and practiced with me for, Lucas got along with everyone now and him and Ivy found out they liked pot a little more than the rest of us, so they'd smoke together after school almost everyday. Sometimes before, those times resulted in us scolding them though. We didn't think something as scary as one of us disappearing could even happen, that only ever happened on TV. But amidst us living our young lives while simply hanging out and getting incredibly fucked up or just studying for a test or watching a creepy movie, one of our own was gone before our very eyes. And there was nothing we could do about it. Sadly. Perhaps, now everything is a bit clearer, you may be able to follow the actual story now...

7th of September, 1995. Mon. 07:43AM. 

had been sitting in the parking lot of Blackbrook High for about fifteen minutes now. At seventeen years old, I think I already wanted to die more than ever. Although I loved the friends that I still had left, Roberta and my dark blue Mercury Mountaineer, I sat there pathetically pondering if another year without my two closest friends was even worth living.

My anxiety was as high as ever, but then again, when wasn't it? My confidence was, as usual, at the bottom of a trash can. Not really because of my looks, because I can't argue with the fact that although shallow my mother is the most beautiful woman I know and my dad is tall and definitely not ugly. So, I turned out quite okay. I like my bleach blonde hair and electric blue eyes far too much to complain, Ivy always reminded me that I was mesmerisingly good looking while growing up because she feared I was insecure. Therefore, I've always felt happy with myself physically.

However, mentally speaking, I was royally fucked.

I kept telling myself that it was okay, because I just had one more year of this hell and then I would leave this shitty town to study elsewhere and later today I could smoke at the skate park with Lucas and maybe convince Aurora to go out for milkshakes. She was the person I would spend most of my time with now since Lucas kept himself busy often. We didn't know if it was because he'd genuinely enjoy being alone or if he was just sad. Lucas wouldn't admit to those type of things even if you tried. And although he was more of a lone wolf, he knew the whole school, name by name, face by face and rumour by rumour.

"The girl who dropped a milkshake on herself last week?" Said Aurora.

"Maria Puentes"

"How about the dude that got caught in English trying to roll a joint?"

"David Kindler, I gave him the rolling paper."

"Hmmmm, girl who flashed Mr Cress?"

"Cindy Constin. Next"

"Girl who rejected you freshman y-"

"Who? Sorry, what? Look at the time!"

See, so Aurora and I didn't exactly understand Lucas' popularity or social status in general. We just went with it, I suppose.

When I had officially been sitting in the car for twenty minutes, I decided to get out since I'd now only have about fifteen minutes to greet everyone. I clung on to the single strap of my backpack on my shoulder and tossed my hair around, hoping it didn't look like shit although the times Aurora, Lucas and texted all summer and eventually we all coincided a single day in Bkackbrook, both of them that day had said I looked cute, really cute (said by Aurora aka most beautiful human on earth). That "summer did it's magic this time" and I had never been this hot. I was flattered, surprised it came from the both of them, but flattered nevertheless.

Rushing through the main blue doors that lead me in, I stopped in my tracks and took some time to take in the horrifying view. There were jocks throwing paper planes and knocking down people's books, cliché, nerds trying to hide for their dear life, cliché, about thirty girls all huddling up to sign up for cheerleading when probably less than half of them were genuinely interested in it for the cheering. Aurora would never let anyone new on the team either way, not unless they were Ivy, who had amazing flexibility and dancing skills but hated cheerleaders with all her heart. Plus, she wasn't even here. So that wouldn't happen.

When scanning for people, I don't usually look at the faces that much. They say that the first thing you notice about someone are their shoes. Which I can firmly say, is true. As a teenager with crippling anxiety, I often look down when I walk because making eye contact with other people is really out of the question, especially on the first day of school. So while walking through the long and seemingly infinite hallways of the school, I spotted some snake skin Jimmy Choo high heels, next to some worn out green Converse. Bingo, I had found my people. I walked up to them somewhat joyfully.

"Your point?" I heard a certain Lucas Falls say with his signature raspy morning voice. Though Aurora was blocking him, I could assume he was leaning on the lockers trying to sleep for the ten minutes we had remaining before class.

"My point is, smoking before Chemistry will just make everything Mr. Lubey says funny. You'll get caught."

"Fine, I'll do it before English then." He answered, making Aurora groan in response. Her scolding was never taken serious by Lucas.

"I mean that does sound better than being stoned in Chemistry" I piped in while appearing next to the girls side. "Thank you! I knew Sir Blackbrook would come to my rescue soon." Said Lucas while standing up straight.

"Gray! Finally, I was starting to wonder where my favourite asthmatic was." Said Aurora while hugging me tight. Sometimes, I questioned whether Aurora James' was a fair human being. You see, she, just as any other seventeen year old woman, was still growing, she still had time to look even more beautiful than she was. How? Aurora was beautiful, in every sense of the damn word. She took care of herself well, her hair was long and black just like when she was little however much stronger and softer looking now. Her skin tone was an intense honey, like Pocahontas, yet somehow she still appeared pale. Often, she'd wear coloured contacts, but personally I liked natural her dark brown eyes more. Oh, and of course, her sometimes dark sometimes bright red lipstick. She'd kill me if I didn't mention that one. Ever since a boy cut a tiny lock of her precious long black hair when she was six years old, she hated most men besides her father. Once she turned eleven, she educated herself more on the matter of equal rights, forcing her father to take her to every book store that had a book on sexism possible, even leaving town to New Orleans to find more. She couldn't get enough. Aurora then decided to make public the fact that she believed girls were treated like shit at our school, which they were, when she was around fourteen years old. Without a doubt, they all started laughing at her. Seniors were calling her names like; feminazi, angry dyke and hers and my personal favourite, Au-WHORE-ra. It was awful. So, thinking like a James would, Aurora plotted her revenge, and it was brilliant.

Ivy has always taken pictures of everything, she didn't have a clue about what she wanted to do in the future, the very thought of a career terrified her, but photography had always been a hobby of hers, she captured the prettiest moments, whether it was of people or small things she personally found beautiful, like spider webs, haystacks or footprints. She enjoyed filming things too, especially us. She would put together yearly montages of us hanging out, Lucas skating or Aurora in cheer practice, also Aiden and I playing video games till the crack of dawn. Ivy never made the one of the year that Aiden left. I often wonder how that would have turned out. 

Anyway, when Aurora asked Ivy to help her film a project, she didn't think twice and accepted immediately. The two girls teamed up in all their female gloriousness and for three months straight, attended every single junior and senior party just to film how poorly the boys would treat girls there. By the time they had finished they had both turned fifteen. When everything was edited and perfected, Lucas put it onto a CD which he had edited a very cool cover for and Aiden and I went a few towns away to find a place that could make us two hundred copies of the CD. Obviously, we succeeded. The next morning, every single person that had a desk, office or locker at the school had been gifted a CD wrapped elegantly with the simple red initials 'AJ'. The school's principal decided to have an assembly just so Aurora herself could scold boys and encourage girls to defend themselves, shortly after this she became the most respected person at our high school. I remember her telling me once; "Respected my ass, guys want to bang me and girls want to have my social status. It's pathetic, I'm aiming for equality, not this lowlife shit. But at least I got us the cool table at the cafeteria." That's my favourite thing she's ever said.

"I stopped having asthma freshman year! Fuck right off."

"Whatever you say, have you guys seen Kate Wesley's boobs? They fucking exist!" Announced Lucas vulgarly. Without a doubt our five foot eight, candy apple green eyed friend here was the person that spoke the most foully out of all of us. You see, Lucas didn't really care for anything that wasn't his adorable Italian mother Sandra, us (Ivy and Aiden included), music, weed and his pug Doobie. Yes, Doobie. Need I say more? He was a sweetheart secretly but if you didn't know Lucas personally, you'd probably just think he was your typical Cali dickhead with a perfect smile.

"Lulu, we're nearing the twenty first century soon, you can't just talk about a women's boobs like that. Keep your dick in your pants. Grayson, tell him, I'm right." Said Aurora looking my way. Guiltily I sighed and looked over at her. "She's right...but I did see her when I walked in, I get ya."

"Aha! Falls wins again." The boy stuck his tongue out and the girl next to me shook her head somewhat amused "I can't believe such a sweet woman like Sandra actually popped you out." The three of us laughed because it was true, Lucas couldn't deny he was a devil compared to his angelic mother. He loved it that way.

Suddenly, a suspenseful silence interrupted our loud laughter, we looked around curiously and wondered why on earth everyone had stopped talking and pacing around. There was no one in the middle of the hallway, all the kids had moved either to the right or left. And still, the only thing I was able to hear, was the sound of whispering. "This is weird...what's going on?" I asked in a whisper. Aurora looked at me clueless "Maybe they're-" before she could finish her sentence, Lucas finally found the cause of this deadly silence. And it changed everything.

"Holy shit!" His pupils dilated and I saw a pink tint appear on his cheeks, once the both of us looked towards the entrance of the school, we then understood why everyone had gone so quiet.

There weren't really words to express what we were all feeling at the sight. They had their chin up high while walking through the pile of rumours that were being spread the very second she walked through the door, as usual, and of course an incredibly messy bun bouncing on the top of their head. Hair visibly much longer than the last time I saw her and now a bleached blonde that almost appeared white. Still as thin and tired looking as that day ten months ago, more so if anything. Her narrow frame was covered by a drastically familiar green bomber jacket covered with patches. Aiden's jacket. Ivy Bloom had walked into the building and it was silent chaos for a whole sixteen seconds and a half, afterwards everyone went back to minding their own business somehow.

The three of us were too stunned to run up and give her a hug, perhaps cry tears of happiness even. We were too confused. Either way, the petite girl seemed to be walking towards us. She hadn't made eye contact with any of us but we could tell she was coming over. Her style appeared to have gotten edgier than before, washed out denim shorts and ripped fishnets standing out. And before we knew it, the girl we hadn't seen in three hundred and sixty five days stood before us. Only far more different.

"Hi..."

Hi? Really, Bloo? She leaves us for a year during the worst possible thing a friendship could go through and starts off with a hi? And here I thought she had a bright future ahead of her.

Aurora scoffed, although my eyes were glued onto my childhood best friend, I saw tears daring to fall onto her cheeks "Hi?... You left me alone for an entire year, without calling, texting or sending a fucking post card, in a town that I moved to so I could be with you, during one of the scariest moments of my life and all you have to say is hi?" Ivy couldn't do much but stand there stunned, Aurora said what we all had on our minds. The blonde's eyes watery and pretty due to her intense hazel eyes "I...I'm sorry."

"You fucking dickhead!" Accused AJ before pulling the shorter girl into a hug. Lucas and I shared an equally surprised look and waited for the two girls that were crying and laughing. Once they pulled apart, Ivy wiped the tears under her eyes and looked at me like a puppy that had just been kicked in the stomach. I recognised this face as her guilty one. With just her expression, I knew she was terribly sorry. And god, I had missed my little sister more than anything. I stretched my arms wide and let her engulf herself in my bear hug. Ivy's signature orange scent was sensed by my nose and to be honest, I hadn't been this happy in a while. There was four of us again. Wow. It felt like the broken bits of my heart were slowly being put back together, which is terribly cheesy, but ultimately true.

After our hug, came the first time Ivy and Lucas looked at each other after 'the incident'. "The incident" was something that happened right before Ivy left town since Lucas was actually the last one that saw her before she left. We, being Aurora and I, tried to get Lucas to talk about it but he said that he couldn't break his promise to Ivy, constantly reinstating the fact that she wanted to keep it between them. Lame, I know. I live for gossip, so that was kind of disappointing. The point is, whatever happened between them clearly affected their friendship because when Lucas looked into Ivy's eyes, you could tell he had been hurt very much. Which was odd since they were never the perfect pair, but I guess it was the whole melancholy of the moment that made their gazes and embrace so intense looking. After we all hugged a few more times and cried a bit more in the hallways like absolute fools, well all of us but Lucas, who just seemed to be very confused or unfocused, the bell rung and we all decided to catch up at lunch.

Aurora kissed Ivy's head and ran off to History. Lucas and Ivy went to smoke "two hits", which would eventually end up being the whole joint, before Chemistry class because Ivy thought that was an amazing idea. And I, happily made my way to Math for once in my life. A bit too blazed perhaps, but happy. Ivy was back, it was too much to register. I had millions of questions on my mind and now they'd be answered. We got so carried away with the chatter and tears that I had forgotten to ask about Aiden's jacket. I made a mental note to find out how she had it later. I was too glee to think. And then it hit me. Aiden...we were just missing Aiden now. The group was almost complete once more and now that we had Ivy back, maybe we could actually make serious progress.

As you can see, I hadn't given up. I couldn't, especially not now. Not when I had such a good feeling in my gut.


	2. 287 days before...

Blackbrook High; 7th of September 11:10

"Wait, wait...you finished 'Miami Vice' without me!?"

I yelled all too loudly in the cafeteria, making a few heads turn to our table. Ivy laughed at mystupidity and cleared her throat defensively seconds later "Would you have preferred me hanging out with the crackheads of Crow in the middle of the night? A girl had to do something with her life." Lucas nodded his head understandingly and agreed that it wasn't a big deal. Ivy smiled at the green eyed boy and gave him her chocolate pudding to show her gratitude. "See, Gray? Agree with the little lady and you get free chocolate pudding. As simple as that." He said while licking the chocolate off of the lid. Ivy giggled and sipped her pineapple juice satisfied.

"Aurora would agree with me if she were here. You two are snakes." I said spitefully while trying to think where the other girl could be and why she was late on the very first day. I love Lucas and Ivy, I do, but sitting with just them two was like signing up for a roast. Which was odd, because technically they're both younger than me but I'm weak, so I let them bully me.

Having Ivy Bloom back felt weird. It was like she had never left, with her legs crossed on her chair and her head in her palm, munching on a PB&J like she always did. Ivy too expressed that being at the school felt unusual again, especially with all the strange stares from everyone who had heard rumours about her. Most of those rumours consisted of her being the cause of Aiden's disappearance. No one really knew why the students at school didn't like Ivy, but it was true.

I noticed the scar by her eyebrow I had seen that day months ago, it had healed but it still looked as prominent as ever. Believe me, I wanted to ask what it was, but something told me that I needed to wait till we were alone. Just to make sure. Ivy and I have always told each other every single thought on our head, ever since we were little we always felt awkward or mildly sad, or both, so we related to each other much more than the mighty and perfect Aiden Cohen ever could have. He wanted to, but his school and social life were highly satisfactory.

"I heard my name? Sorry I'm late, being cheer Captain, Senior-class President and the newbie guide is incredibly time consuming. I'm surprised I don't have wrinkles." Said the girl pushing her hair behind her shoulder and sitting down next to Lucas. "Rich people don't get wrinkles, Miss James." Claimed Lucas. Aurora laughed at his ignorant words and pulled a black box out of her Mary Poppins like red leather purse "I can't say you're wrong, Falls." Replied the tan girl while opening her box to reveal several elegant pieces of sushi and rice on the side. 

Even I'm not that rich, I still bring Nutella sandwiches from home and eat the greasy french fries from the cafeteria. Aurora James lived in an entirely different world.

"You're still cheer captain? I thought my boys would have knocked some sense into you already, A." Said Ivy while taking off her jacket "Someone has to do it, V. Oh and you're totally trying out this year, just saying"

Her jacket. Aiden's jacket. This couldn't wait, I wanted Ivy to come back and have to not think about Aiden knowing how much the entire situation affected her, but she needed to. Ivy had to know something, anything. Aiden wouldn't just leave forever without telling us, without wanting us to find him. I knew he would want that, after all, there was no person in the world he loved more than Ivy and me.

I like to think that Aurora is psychic. I know, it sounds stupid, but it's little to say that the girl always knows what's on other people's mind. Hence, her kicking my foot under the table after noticing my dazed state. When I turned to her, I accommodated my own jacket and then arched my chin towards Ivy who was in front of me. Aurora got the signal and looked at Ivy's jacket, I swear I heard the small gasp that escaped her lips seconds after.

Ivy was too busy being pestered by Lucas about her dark roots and dried out beach blonde hair for the girl to even notice Aurora mouthing "Ask. Now". So I did.

Awkwardly, but I did.

"Hey, Bloo?"

"Ugh, yes, please distract me from this unintelligent ass conversation." Lucas smiled next to the girl rubbing her temples, I wondered if he had noticed the jacket. He seemed to busy falling back into his old habits of being annoying and giggling ever since she got back, so I doubted it.

"Isn't that...Jock's?" I said in the softest tone possible. 'Jock' is the nickname Ivy gave Aiden when we were nine. He told us when he always older he wanted to join the football team and Ivy thought that was the lamest thing ever. So she started calling him Jock. Aiden disliked it, heavily, but it made her laugh. Eventually, it managed to stick around and we rarely heard Ivy ever say his actual name. I knew nothing could soften the blow, in the end, no matter how sweetly I said his name, Ivy still looked at me with tears in her eyes "What about it?" She said with an evident lump in her throat.

Aurora looked at me and saw the lack of courage to talk to Ivy, so she stepped in "V...Where'd you get that from? Aiden took all his things..."

Ivy went silent. Ivy rarely goes silent. We took this as a sign to leave her alone.

"You don't have to tell us, okay?" Said Lucas putting a reassuring arm over Ivy "We can talk about this another-" But then, the green eyed boy got interrupted by Ivy suddenly speaking up.

"He...gave it to me. I saw him...before he left."

Crickets.

There were actual cricket noises in the background. Some random student dropped their plastic fork and I literally heard that better than the sounds of my own breathing.

"What?" I said. Nothing else could come out.

"There are many, many things that happened before he left. I knew I'd have to tell the story eventually. Maybe it could help...I thought that before, but, my hope's been gone for a while now" She said as she wiped a single tear down her face and leaned into the table as if preparing to reveal a dark secret "You...you saw him? You saw him and didn't tell us!?" I exclaimed.

"He lied to me."

Huh? What the hell was she talking about? Goosebumps travelled through my body, I was getting the feeling that what the three of us knew about Aiden's disappearance was completely different to what Ivy knew. She was always good at keeping secrets. But there was never the need, from what I know. We told each other everything. I wonder when that stopped.

"Lied to you? V, what are you talking about?" Questioned Aurora with worry in her tone. Seeing her best friend after so long and in these conditions resulted incredibly overwhelming.

"I know you guys must be thinking a ton of shit right now, like why everything must seem so confusing, where I got the damn scar on my face from or why I even decided to come back. Now, you're thinking about how sketchy it all looks, me coming back to town with Jock's jacket. You might even be wondering if I'm guilty of something, or if I know where he is. But here's the thing; I know what went down last summer, you don't." Ivy leaned even closer into the table with the help of her elbows and stared at us with eyes colder than ever before, I could easily tell we were all trying to understand why Ivy was being like this. Usually, Ivy is an observer. She's not too quiet nor loud, a perfect combination of both if possible. She's sweeter than a plum yet mean and feisty, somehow balancing those two required not much effort from her part, which was good because Ivy Bloom was never really known for giving it her best shot. Ivy, was more known for setting fire to our old Math teacher's lawn in the third grade just because she was bored. 

"I'm here to drop facts and move on with my life while not having to think about just how much of a lying son of a bitch Aiden Cohen is."

Excuse me? Had I heard that correctly? Did Ivy Bloom just call Aiden, the boy that taught her how to tie her shoelaces, a liar?

After those words leaving her lips, I broke into a cold sweat. I thought, how the hell could Ivy even try to make herself the victim in this situation? Our best friend was literally missing, there's no way any of this could been his fault! However, after a few seconds or so, I remembered that we knew nothing. Ivy was an actual witness of Aiden the last couple of days before he disappeared, according to her, so she actually knows something, which is far more than we could even reach without her help. Therefore, I chose to believe my best friend. Ivy was many things, shameless, blunt, crazy, especially crazy, but she has never been malicious. She does everything with good in her heart at all times.

The bell rung and I turned to look at Lucas and Aurora who were equally as stunned as I was, quite clearly the silence was annoying Ivy "So!? Someone say- Ah, fuck it! I have English, see you never, I guess?"

Dramatic as always. Don't mind me, just adding extra commentary.

"Jesus, Ivy! It's just a lot to take in, look at it from our point of view." Aurora stood up to say, luckily all the other students were already marching to their classes and spared no time looking towards the two standing girls and dudes that were sitting down panicking silently. Amazing duo, Lucas and I are.

"Oh boohoo! So I'm lying then?" In that moment, Ivy looked at me with evident hope in her eyes, I didn't think she was lying at all and I think somehow she felt that.

She wasn't guilty looking to me, she was just Bloo.

"We don't know, Bloo. We can't judge you because we don't know what's been happening with you, or what happened to Aiden. Tell us, we won't judge, we never have. You're my family. Just try and think about how much this all is for us to take in, we know nothing" I said with as much tenderness as I could. I've never been good at words, which very much contradicts with my passion for writing but I blame it on my anxiety and constant stutter that appears out of fucking nowhere.

"Yeah, sorry, I guess. Cool, we're cool. I'll tell you everything today, and maybe tomorrow, and the day after-" 

"-What is this a fucking trilogy?" Interrupted Lucas while furrowing his eyebrows "No. Rude. You want detail don't you? Grayson, we're going to your house, I miss Roberta" I giggled at the girl with a wide grin on her face while she put back on her- well, Aiden's jacket. Ivy back in town gave me an enormous amount of hope, and this time it felt like things could finally go right for us.

Aurora hugged Ivy and waved us goodbye, stating that as much as she wanted to stick around, her schedule was tight because she had a social life unlike the rest of us, which led to Lucas telling her to fuck off even though we all knew she was right. We often found it funny that Aurora and Aiden associated with almost the entire school and the rest of us only really hang out with each other. I'm just shy, and haven't met anyone interesting enough beyond my friend circle to make me try and not be shy. Lucas and Ivy, however, have all the charms they need to be popular; sociable, good looking and funny. But that didn't change the fact that they disliked almost everyone at school and were both somewhat introverted besides their hyper demeanour "Tulip, I happen to have English as well! And by the way, the scar, totally hot." Said Lucas standing up and putting an arm over Ivy. The girl rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Seriously? Why do we have every class together today? I can't handle being stoned with you in class all senior year! Show me your timetable, you're driving me to Grayson's by the way." She replied with her big doe eyes that sparkled whenever she wanted something. No one could say no.

While picking up the rest of my things and biting into my baby carrots, I laughed at the memory of Ivy hating Lucas when we were younger "I will never understand that nickname. It doesn't even make sense, where's the pun or relevance?" Lucas, about to open his shameless mouth, suddenly had Ivy's hand over his mouth and the girl acting a nervous mess "That's the point! You'll NEVER understand. Let's go Lulu!" And they left, of course, while still bickering.

And then, I stood alone. It was times like these where I missed Aiden the most, usually, he was always by my side. Our snobby rich parents even paid the school to put us in the same classes, insane, I know. But it made me want to go to school instead of hating it for a while.

Can't imagine loving it now.

Blackbrook Mansion; 7th of September 16:17pm

"LUUUUUCAS FALLS! It's almost four twenty, get your shit together! Roll it faster!" Pressured Ivy while she kneeled on the couch next to Lucas. Aurora and I were being productive and making guacamole, while Ivy and Lucas were on pot duty. However, Ivy insisted that she had learnt a new and more impressive way to roll and wanted to show us step by step, so at the moment Lucas was on pot duty and Ivy was on coaching duty.

"You just put nail polish on me! I can't touch the fucking paper!" Protested the brunette boy making the girl next to him smile evilly "It looks pretty though! Purple suits your eyes, Falls."

Aurora giggled next to me while she diced tomatoes "Ivy is as hyper as always, I missed her so much. How you holding up, Gracie?" I whined at the nickname which had been a constant since we were nine. 

I remember asking her why she had given me that nickname, I clearly didn't like it that much when I was kid, demanded to know why I was being addressed with a girls name. And let me tell you, when Aurora James looked at my nine year old little face and said that she told her dad she was talking on the house phone to "Grace", and not Grayson Blackbrook, who her dad suspected she had a crush on, my heart almost flew out of my chest. However, she rejected me when I asked her out in the third grade so I was forever scared of Aurora, therefore nothing happened.

That was probably the closest I've ever gotten to liking any girl. And everyone goes through an Aurora James phase. 

"I'm dealing fine. I missed her way too much too, but I'm really...confused. Do you think...do you think she knows where he is?" I asked quietly as I washed the dishes in my sink. Aurora looked at me doubtfully "If she did he'd be here right now, that's what I like to think at least. I don't think whatever he did to make her think he was a, and I quote, "a lying son of a bitch", was actually that bad." 

"You think? Aiden's always been a bit too impulsive." We smiled at each other and we both knew we were thinking about Aiden and his ways, that's also why the smiles died down. 

"Well, we're gonna find out, so stop being nostalgic and tie my hair so I can finish this dip already!" Exclaimed the dark skinned beauty standing in front of me with her hair down "I have guac hands. Pleaaaaaaase!" And although I lacked knowledge on tying girls hair, I offered my help. And I would be lying and not being true to our ridiculous male species if I didn't say her ass was just a bit too close to my lower area and it was making me blush heavily. Awkward.

"Seventeen years on this planet and you can't tie a girls hair? Pathetic, Blackbrook." Laughed the girl while she adjusted the sloppy, poor excuse of a ponytail.

"Shut up, I'm proud of this ponytail, it's messy, but you look pretty." I said while opening a bag of chips and putting them in a separate bowl. After a while we both made our way to the living room and made ourselves comfortable. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. Going from knowing nothing about what happened to knowing possibly everything was considerably too much for my tiny brain. Which is why I was glad that Ivy was already baked as a cake and talking at a very slow and comprehensive speed. Lucas passed the very much illegal substance to Aurora while smoked filled the air and the girl thanked him with a cheeky smile. Ivy huffed loudly.

"Okay, where do I start?" Said Bloom with her head dipped in her palm "'Cause there's a looooot to go through."

Lucas eyed Aurora and I as if waiting for us to ask her an abundance of questions. Somehow, although we knew Lucas cared deeply for everyone, he seemed quite uninterested in Ivy's story. He had always stated that as much as he tried to be optimistic, it wasn't part of his nature, Aurora and I knew this was code for him having lost hope regarding the whole Cohen situation.

"Go through all of it. Tell us everything we don't already know." Said Aurora "Well, we're gonna be here for a while then, because you know mostly nothing." Answered the blonde while staring down at the floor with guilt.

Clapping her hands together and taking a deep breath, she recalled it all in her head.

"Okay, let's start."

Bloom Residence; 23rd of June at 15:25pm

Three hundred and fifty four, three hundred and fifty five, three hundred and fifty six, three hundred and fifty- Fuck it. She thought. Might as well die of boredom for the next three months if counting her hair strands one by one were her only source of entertainment.

"Whyyyyyyyy, no one spends summer alone. Nice one, Ivy. So popular." Said the girl as she stared at herself in her bathroom mirror wondering: 1. Why she talked to herself so much and 2. Why she had no friends besides her usual friend group. Ivy always had the least fun out of everyone in town during summer, she loved the climate, concept and freedom of those three amazing months but never had the people to spend it with as all her friends were dirt rich and went out of the country for the summer. Ivy was well off as well, perhaps not rich but, comfortable, however even if she were, she didn't really enjoy travelling as much as she'd like to.

Ever since her father passed away, Ivy hadn't set foot outside of Louisiana. She loved travelling when she was little, she still often thinks about that time when her, Aiden and I went to Mexico when we were five, we planned millions of other trips together but as soon as her father was out the picture, she started to hate travelling. Anyone sane would understand that if you considered the way her father left.

Her dad had promised her with the biggest smile on his face that he would take her to Disney World as soon as he came back from his trip to Canada, but he never did. Apparently, he got in the middle of a shooting or something, Ivy never really liked to talk about it much. She blamed him for leaving too heavily.

The girl brushed through her barely long brown hair that she was so unfamiliar with, Ivy liked her hair short and out of the way. However, Aiden always told her that she looked extremely pretty with long hair. So she took it upon herself to grow it out now that she was sixteen.

Sixteen and alone for the entire summer. Sigh. Even Lucas managed to convince his mum to take him back to California for a few weeks, and he never left town due to laziness. Unfair.

When she had finally found the motivation in her to put on a pair of shorts and a baggy and outdated Kiss t-shirt, her ears perked up at the sound of music playing from what seemed to be outside her empty house. Odd. She thought to herself. Who on earth was blasting "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" at this time of the day in her neighbourhood?

There was a person she had in mind of course. Only they could relate to Ivy's deep obsession with Will Smith. But that person was out of the question. Aiden left for Berlin just a few days ago, she took him to the airport and all. It was impossible. With curiosity getting the best of her, she pushed aside her rainbow beaded curtains and opened her window, sticking her head out and wincing at the powerful sunlight of June this summer. When she lowered her head and looked at her driveway, she swore that she had never smiled so quickly and widely in her life.

"Well, hello there, sleepyhead! Would you like to hang with the Prince to your Bel Air on this fine morning?"

Aiden Cohen was standing right there holding a boom box above his head with his charming triangle shaped smile. Ivy's breath had been taken away. How could she not be in awe with his glistening green eyes and somehow effortlessly perfect light brown hair? Just a single bat of his pretty long eyelashes and the entire town was wrapped around his finger.

"Jock!?"

"Ivy Bloom"

"What are you doing here?"

He paused the music and lowered the radio, grinning at the girl "I'm taking you to eat ice cream! It's hot as shit outside, get out of your house!" He was oddly cheery, Ivy thought, considering their little argument at the end of year school party, she assumed that he would ignore her even if he were in town this summer, but he wasn't.

Ivy, although lazy and kind of nervous, would never turn down an offer for ice cream, so she nodded her head joyously and told him to give her five minutes and she'd be down. When she closed the window and shut the curtain, she exhaled a breath she didn't know she had been holding. You see, Ivy didn't really know how to act with Aiden anymore, things weren't as easy as they were when they were little and could talk mindlessly about things and each other while ignoring feelings. Now, Ivy didn't really know how she felt about him. She always thought Aiden was too good for her, yeah sure, people may have constantly told them they seemed like a sweet couple, potential lovers, "more than friends", our dearest skeptic Ivy Bloom believed none of it, Aiden's actions said otherwise.

Unhappily, she stared at herself in the mirror, tied her hair in a messy bun and put on tiny gold hoop earrings that she presumed made her seem a tad bit girlier, less like a pot smoking soon to be sixteen year old that preferred her bed over anything else. With the piercing heat outside, Ivy left her room without grabbing a jacket and flew out the front door to meet the charming Aiden Cohen.

She couldn't really blame his actions, I mean, he's gorgeous, what girls wouldn't want to hook up with him? He was a year older after all, Ivy always told herself he was thinking about different things, which was code for he was out of her league.

"Hey, V, how's your summer so far?" Asked Aiden while hugging her tightly "Well, we're one week into it and I'm quite...bored, if I must say so myself" replied the girl with a lack of enthusiasm which Aiden failed to pick up. "Ivy Bloom being bored? Now that's new"

For the first time in her life, Ivy didn't know what to talk about with him. Usually, she would stand next to Aiden while he talked and melt at any word he said, Ivy Bloom was soft butter for Aiden Cohen, and that was a group fact. He seemed oddly cheery today, which was strange simply because he used to be very...wild like during summer. A bit out of control, to sugarcoat it.

"Yeah, well, there's not much here to spark my enthusiasm, as you can see."

"Well, now I'm here. 'Bet I can spark it up in you, Clem." Of course he had to say something like that, the girl blushed at the simple possibility of that being said out of context, and at the usage of her second name, something only Aiden would do, knowing it would start a mini Ivy riot, and he adored those "Hey, hey, hey! What's up with the second name? Ivy is much shorter, easier, cool...Would you like me to start calling you Stefan? Hm?"

Gazing playfully, the boy chuckled "I mean it is my name, so It'd be fair, Clementine." Ivy began to walk faster with her arms crossed, like a five year old, and started to walk in front of the boy "Fuck you, Stefan. I'm getting ice cream by myself." Aiden whistled at the girls sudden strut, causing her to get slightly (very) self conscious "You just walking ahead gives me a better view."

Why was he being so strange? Ivy didn't want to admit to herself how weirded out she was with him. Aiden was always flirty and playful with everyone, but now, at an older age and it being just the two of them, Ivy couldn't help feeling unfamiliar with the boy she was walking with. Usually, her heart would be beating to the point where it was about to fly out her chest, and ever so slightly, it was, but Ivy didn't want to know heartbreak, and as the pessimist she is, she expected that from Aiden or any other person interested in her, so she didn't let her heart beat the ways it felt it should.

They continued the banter and loud laughs, most from Aiden's side, and after a while reached the ice cream parlour that was at the very East side of town, literally, the last block before Blackbrook's famous East forest, which Ivy assumed they'd be going to afterwards. When they reached the ice cream parlour, they both said hi to Mr Teddy, the old man that had been working there since they were children, ordered their usuals (Ivy's was coffee and chocolate and Aiden's was just vanilla), they reached for their usual group seat at the back, until Aiden spoke up "Why don't we sit next to the window? It's just you and me, no need for group space." Ivy blinked nervously for some reason she couldn't even explain and nodded "Yeah, you're right, sorry, used to it." Before she could sit down herself, Aiden had pulled out her chair for her and waited for her to sit.

"Aiden, I can-"

"It's fine, let me." Ivy didn't care for saying no once more.

"This seems awfully close to a date, Stefan. You better watch it."

Grinning at her devilishly, with those damned candy apple green eyes sparkling like a starry night sky "Who said it wasn't?"

Oh god, she thought. What the fuck do I say back to that? Is what she wanted to say, but instead, due to her brain being such a slow functioning organ, she said the first thing she could think of

"Smooth, Cohen." The boy looked out the window satisfied, smiling angelically. Ivy Bloom would never understand how a boy could be the perfect mix of bad and good at the same time.

\- Fuck, saying that made him think I was flirting back, didn't it? Shit! Was I? My cheeks are red, can they go away! That means something, right? Shit, shit shit! I guess I am flirting back then...do I like him? - These were Ivy's thoughts, this is how her logic works, which is quite stressful, as you can see. Given the fact that during Ivy's preteen or teen years both her parents we're absent, she never really learnt how to understand emotions or herself. There was no guide to tell her why she was feeling what she was feeling during days of sudden gloom, nor anger, which is why she has such a bad temper as well. These things were out of Ivy Bloom's control, she didn't act like a child at times for no reason, it was all a simple misfortune.

Aiden eyed the people walking by on the sidewalk, as well as the cars driving by, it seemed like he was simply taking the whole picture in, somewhat nostalgically. Ivy eyed him because her mind was turbulent and staring at him was clearing it up. She thought about how he had almost invisible freckles around his cheeks and how they reminded her of constellations, she thought about his perfectly soft, milky skin and about how plump his lips seemed when she only focused on him, he was gorgeous, there were no other words for a boy with such features and heart, so why wasn't that enough for Ivy to convince herself? Why was her heart not going crazy?

"Look at all this, Clem"

"Hm? At what?"

"All of it. It looks so mundane when you stare at it now, doesn't it? Look, that's Laura Sanderson from my AP History class, she always forgets her pen, quite smart, or look! That's the guy that works at the waffle house next to school, he only gives girls with double D's free syrup, or even those huge pine trees right there that start one of our many forests in Blackbrook, people overlook the details so much so that they disappear, y'know? I mean it's a given fact that everything is temporary, Laura Sanderson and the waffle dude will die one day, as will I and you and everyone we love, but, to me at least, if you soak up everything around you for every second you are able to, things disappear slower. Which is better than thinking about it in the future, reminiscing old moments, screw that! Just live them right now!"

Within that random, messy, somewhat poorly explained theory of Aiden Cohen, Ivy found beauty in it. She was in awe.

And it was this exact moment in which Ivy Bloom decided she liked Aiden Cohen.

"That's...that's quite deep. But it's pretty. Also Laura Sanderson has great boobs, did you know that?" Said the girl, making the boy in front of her giggle. And for a second, time froze and they stared at each other longer than intended, green eyes meeting with hazel ones that made his heart twitch and her eyelashes bat sweetly.

"...Do you want me to walk you home?" Asked the boy scooping the last bit of ice cream out of his cup.

Ivy frowned "No. I mean, if you wanna go, I get it..."

"Oh, I just assumed you had had enough of me already, my bad! Wanna get out of here?" Before she could debate on whether she truly wanted to or not, Ivy had already said a somewhat lively "Yeah...sure!"

A for effort, Ivy Bloom.

Blackbrook Residence; 7th of September 16:56pm

"If you guys fuck in the next part of the story, I'm fuckin' outtie"

Said a seemingly not amused Lucas, too stoned to properly follow the story but focusing on it either way because the way Ivy moved her hands and did dramatic expressions during her story telling was always something he enjoyed about her.

However, that didn't mean he was equally as fond of the actual content of her story.

In fact, Lucas and I have spent lots of time together since he moved here, of course I always hung around Aiden mostly, but Lucas and I shared a lot of things in common, starting with our shared hatred for our High School, I often think I would be happy in a different school with perhaps different books to read, classes to take, Lucas just hates school in general, though. Also, although he acts like an a clown most of the time he also had quite a compassionate side, which came in handy with my anxiety issues, if not Ivy it was Lucas who would call me to check up on me, or give me random support. He acts tough, but he's pudding. Oh, and we're both obsessed with hot chocolate. When Aiden left, we officially became best friends.

Therefore, I can surely tell you that Lucas Falls has always had a thing for Ivy. Perhaps it's just a necessity to sleep with someone as beautiful as she is, but since the day he got to the school, all he did was try and get her attention. Of course, always reminding me that he wasn't a feelings guy (I don't recall that when I walked in on him sobbing uncontrollably while watching "Teen Wolf"...but okay, Falls) and that he wasn't the type to fall in love, at least not at an early age where he wanted to live his teenage years vigorously.

Consequently, his annoyance towards the topic was probably related to his ego and how someone else got to Ivy Bloom before he did.

"No one is fucking anyone right now. Relax, dumbass" Said Ivy taking a puff from the joint she started making halfway through her story (Legend) and letting down her long blonde hair.

It was weird seeing her with not only long hair but bleached as well, if it weren't for the uniqueness and diversity of her intense hazel eyes, she would've been unrecognisable to me when she walked up to us yesterday at school.

"Right now!?" Exclaimed Lucas, who then proceeded to curse in Italian and cause the same confusion he always does when that happens, Aurora on the other hand, munching away on the nachos and taking note of her story for details, was enjoying the whole saga she intuitively knew happened in Ivy's past. We both lived for the drama, basically.

"Oooooh, V, that's scandalous, we need more snacks for all this juice" I literally blushed at how well she phrased that, which caused Ivy to wink at me when no one was looking, to which I responded with a mouthed "fuck you" causing her only laughter.

"Anyway, can I continue? Day one is practically done, that rhymed!"

"Bloo, the story." I reminded the faded girl.

"True, thanks, so..."

Blackbrook's Eastern Hidden Lagoon; June 23rd at 17:00pm

"Why do I remember this being closer by?"

"Probably because eleven year old you was always terrified of any sound you heard in here and walked a pace like the Flash's distant cousin"

Ivy giggled and sighed at the memories, although the forest was beautiful all around Blackbrook, she held several conspiracy theories in her head that she had made up along the years having to do with the forest and its ambivalence.

"Shut up, imagine how many people have gotten lost in this forest? It's pretty big, I wouldn't be surprised if we were walking on dead bodies right now."

"Ah yes, we love morbid American soil" Answered Aiden making the girl beam.

"Aha! Old Lagoon, we meet again" Said Ivy while soaking up the sight of one of her favourite spots in Blackbrook. There was a small waterfall that fell into an almost turquoise looking lagoon due to the sunlight that shone through the trees, it was a steep yet not quite large lagoon that complimented the enchanted looking forest to perfection. Ivy pulled out a joint from her shorts back pocket and sat down in front of the sweet waters.

"Uhm, what are you doing?"

"Smoking? What are you do- why are you stripping?" Squeaked the girl as a pink tint crept on her cheeks, Aiden Cohen taking off his shirt was a delightful surprise and reminded her of old Greek heroes or gods with perfectly sculpted bodies, she and many people never understood how on earth a boy could be this good looking "I'm getting in the lagoon, the thing I thought we were here for" Said the boy chuckling at the girl and her nervousness towards him, he then proceeded to remove his pants, and now Ivy was seriously a ball of nerves.

"Come on, Clem. No need for skinny dipping, a bra and undies aren't anything I haven't seen before."

"You're a pervert"

"No, I'm a lagoon swimming enthusiast, there's a difference."

She smiled and decided that was a fair enough way to win her over, about to turn off the joint, she turned to ask Aiden if he wanted a hit, which she thought he would deny since Aiden was probably the only one in the group that didn't frequently smoke (Mostly because of his athleticism) but to her surprise and uncertainty, he accepted.

"Well...we need to do the things we'll regret we didn't do, right?" Ivy simply nodded her head and handed it to him. As he was distracted, (or so she thought) Ivy quickly turned around in attempt to take of her clothes quickly, thanking god she actually wore matching underwear and bra today, instead of grabbing her lucky duck underwear, don't ask about it. Of course, Aiden was looking anyway, and he took in the remarkable view that was Ivy Bloom as if it were the first time ever.

He asked himself how he could've been so blind all these years to have ignored such a beautiful light.

"Keep your eyes to yourself, Stefan."

The boy smirked and puffed on the joint once more before putting a hand over his eyes and handing it back to Ivy with a smile on his face "Eyes to myself."

As she undressed, Aiden peeked through the gaps of his fingers and admired the arches of her back as she nervously removed the ripped up shorts she had on, which led to the removal of her shirt, and the quickening of Aiden's heart at someone so beautifully delicate. Ivy never thought she was much, you see, as every person in this world, she burdened herself with insecurities no one else noticed, so when she looked in the mirror, she failed to see the gorgeousness of her big almond eyes, the way her nose arched ever so slightly, the dimples that complimented her smile or even the golden hue of her tan skin. He saw all of this, and right now the view he had in front of him made him want to scream and shout.

Aiden wondered if she saw herself the way he did.

Ivy, who had turned her head to the left to show that Aiden's obviousness was not exactly difficult to notice, turned around completely and made eye contact with him for a split second, she eyed him as well, from his hero hair to his crooked smile, he looked one of the comic characters she read when she was little, how could she even compare? She thought.

"You, Ivy Clementine Bloom, are something else."

Red as roses were, she shook her head humbly, or perhaps unknowingly. "No, no, I'm just me. Good ol' poison Ivy." She chuckled afterwards.

"You'll realise one day, and I'll be right there to tell you I told you so, Clem." The girl sighed and giggled.

"Still with the "Clem"? Jesus, Stefan, you never seem to get tired."

"Of you? Not very likely." Covering herself up shyly, she laughed "You have got to stop using those one liners."

"Make me."

"Okay!" Said Ivy mischievously, pushing Aiden into the lagoon seconds after. To her misfortune, the football player had excellent reflexes and managed to grab her wrist before falling in the hidden sweet waters of Blackbrook.

Underwater, everything was quiet for the first time today. No voices, no sounds and no time for thinking. However, in those short seconds, Ivy thought about how she enjoyed his company today, although oddly romantic, it was refreshing and made up for their last meeting. She wondered if they would talk about it today.

Once they both reached the surface, they laughed like idiots and splashed water around until they were satisfied, just like when they were kids. And then, time stopped for a bit. Things were slower, out of focus, the only thing clear being the ravenousness Aiden Cohen felt for Ivy Bloom, and how innocent she appeared while flickering her look to his lips, one time was enough for Aiden to be fulfilled enough to kiss her. So he did.

He kissed her deeply, longingly, as if swimming wasn't important anymore if drowning in her was an option. Ivy, eyes wide and dispersed, started to melt into the sweet kiss ever so slowly, thinking about how preteen Ivy would've been ecstatic. Ignoring the thoughts of doubt and consequences of her little misleading fantasy, she parted away, smiled at him, and when he smiled back, he impulsively went in for another kiss which this time she received with welcoming lips and arms wrapping around his neck.

That day, Ivy and Aiden didn't really do much talking. After the lagoon, they went back to her house, sat in her room, played old rock and roll and discussed about all the things they would do this summer. Just them two.

Ivy didn't know what this was or what it would become, but all she knew is that her summer this year might have just been saved by Aiden Cohen.


	3. 282 days before...

School Cafeteria, Blackbrook High, September 10th; 13:12pm

"I'm just saying, if she weren't fifty thousand years old, Ms. Campbell would be great in bed. Have you seen those bed eyes?" Said Falls.

Aurora, who had had just about enough of Lucas' purposeful blabbing, had two fingers rubbing each of her temples and her eyes shut tight "Lulu, why is it that every time you open your mouth I feel like leaving the table?" Asked the girl with a big ironic smile plastered on her face "Oh, please! I can't give the little ol' lady a compliment? Chivalry is dead" the girl laughed at the green eyed boy. She often wondered how Lucas' mind worked, not enough to actually try and understand it, but she wondered. 

Lucas and Aurora have always had a kind of salt and pepper type of friendship. Not meaning they're inseparable or the bestest of friends ever, but they always back each other up and usually stick together. In the end, although I hate to divide people into groups, they were both foreigners to Blackbrook, Louisiana, and had spent less time with us which created gaps in our conversations at times, so whenever there are problems between us or we're talking about something in our past they couldn't comprehend or weren't there for, they simply mind their own business and keep each other company. Now, personality wise, they are two completely different people. Two sides of a coin, they didn't necessarily compliment each other well, but they just really liked one another, so they made it work. 

"Speaking of chivalry, how's things been since Ivy's back?" Asked the girl biting the straw to contain her curiosity. Lucas looked at her sternly.

"Great...why do you ask, James?" 

"Oh, pffffft, I don't know, maybe, just maybe...it'd be awkward-"

"Aurora-"

"Since-"

"Don't do-"

"The incident."

"Fuck you." Said Lucas while rolling his eyes and stuffing his mouth with undercooked cafeteria food, pasta or maybe risotto, who knows. While taking a sip of his drink, he looked over at Aurora annoyed, only to find her stubbornly waiting for an answer, head in her palm and all. She wore that devilish smirk that said "you know I'm gonna get what I want, so why try?", so Lucas, effectively, didn't try. 

"'The incident', as you call it, is buried deep in a hatchet somewhere far far away, Asia, maybe? A little bit of Indonesia loving, perhaps? Forget about it, it's gone, ciao."

Aurora scoffed "I will never, ever, stop interrogating you, Falls, you hide too much." 

In the midst of Lucas proceeding to open his mouth, probably to tell Aurora to fuck off, Ivy arrived with a tray and a devilish smile on her face as always. "Falls hiding something? Are we talking about his secret desire to become a woman? Because we all support you, Lu." The girl sat down happily as she eyed Aurora giggling and Lucas fake laughing, she had missed her friends so much, she hadn't even noticed it till recently, but life here, South of Blackbrook, with them, would never compare to living away, no matter the fantasies she got wrapped up in while she was there. 

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Do you hear my laughter expressing joy and enthusiasm? Neither can I, so let's just change the subject shall we? How about we talk about the shitty ass lunch I can see on your tray, Tulip. The fuck are you eating like a bird for?" 

As the conversation drifted towards her meal, Aurora and Lucas noted a single chocolate pudding cup, a packet of crackers, a piece of cheddar cheese which was most likely stolen from the kitchen because Ivy had a proven theory about the cooks hiding better food in their storage room, so she snatched the key and made a copy in the 6th grade. Wild. And of course, a Caprisun to wash down the healthy meal. Aurora sighed. "What type of lunch is that?"

Ivy giggled at the reasoning "I woke up at like four in the morning and had three giant cereal bowls, so I'm not really that hungry. Plus, crackers and cheese are always the way to go. Especially if it's stolen." She said adding a wink at the end. 

"See, this is exactly why you can't live alone, you can't even maintain an even eating pattern. This is why you should just move in with me!" Said Aurora eagerly, it appeared to be a subject that the girl had already brought up with Ivy before, however, Ivy seemed quite reluctant towards the idea. 

"No way, I'm not leaving my house! Especially if it's all mine now, listen, my mom sends me enough money every three months to pay bills all year long, in case I need to fix something or just want to fuck around. She feels bad for leaving I guess, I don't really care as long as she keeps on sending me cheques and pretty flowers every once in a while. I'm fine at home, I can maintain myself and it perfectly. Plus, Gray has been stopping by everyday to check on me." Aurora smiled at the last bit, feeling a bit more at ease with the idea of Ivy living alone even if she knew that her living with the James family was a much more comfortable, less complicated option. However, Aurora recognised Ivy's stubbornness and genuine desire to try and fend for herself, so be it. 

"Fine. But the second you burn that house down, you're moving in with me." 

"Aha! You see in that case I'd have no choice, so yeah sure why not." Said Ivy breaking her crackers in half and adding cheese on the top. Lucas eyed her in awe. She looked like a little five year old girl, legs crossed on the chair, hair long and messily tied into a single ponytail and of course, her glitter pink Dr Martens that you could see from a mile away. She was a very interesting sight to take in. 

Lucas, in the middle of remembering an important thought while the two girls chatted, was suddenly reminded of a rumour that had been spreading about Ivy. He'd previously talked about it with Aurora before going into school, however, he wanted Ivy herself to confirm it "So...m'ladies, I'd like to address a rumour which has reached my ears"

Ivy and Aurora both looked at the boy curiously, but when Aurora realised what rumour he was talking about, she gasped and suddenly turned her eyes towards Ivy. "Spill. Now" 

"...What?" 

As the confusion spread more and more over her face, another tray reached the table, and just by peeking at the french fries, poor excuse of a salad and multiple desserts on the tray, you could tell it was me who had arrived. "Why do I feel like this is bad timing?" I said while putting my bag on the floor and sitting down with a huff. I had just got out of AP Literature and questioned why I needed to know how to measure poetry when I'd never become a poet in my goddamn life. Fucking High School. 

"If Ivy comes clean, you've come at a great time." Said Aurora cheekily. 

"Okay can someone just spit it out!? Gray! They're bullying me." Complained Ivy childishly, who was also threatening to go sit next to me if they didn't leave her alone. What on earth were these two up to?

All while looking at Aurora and giggling mischievously, Lucas tried to think of a good way to phrase his question.

"I heard you had a thing with a certain...female...from North Blackbrook?" 

Ivy's face went white like paper and without even processing whether it'd be okay to tell the truth or not, she just denied it. "Who told you that? Not possible...I'm not gay." Said the girl, rather slowly may I mention, as if she hadn't slept a blink, pressing her lips into a thin line, making various dimples stand out. As if planned, her three friends facing her burst out laughing, the type of laughs where you even slap your knees and all, Ivy stayed mute in the midst of their tears of laughter. 

"You- You're joking right, V?" Laughed Aurora wholeheartedly. 

"There's nothing wrong with it, Bloo. Just come clean, we know you already, you think we haven't noticed?" I said putting a hand on Ivy's shoulder. The girl felt accepted, however, she was feeling very...little. 

Perhaps she wasn't ready to come out, or perhaps, in Ivy's mind she thought it wasn't necessary, that it wasn't important enough for her to make a whole speech and cry and finally come to a conclusion on her sexuality. It was all a bit irrelevant to her, why did that even matter? She thought. It's not like she had to justify her sexuality to anyone, right? 

"Okay, maybe I like girls too, but that doesn't make me gay...or bisexual...or anything." She flickered her eyes to me, the only person in the room who kind of already knew about her indifference towards gender. Maybe she couldn't remember, but she told me when we didn't even know what sexuality was. 

Aurora, Lucas and I stared at her confused, eyebrows furrowed. Lucas stole a fry from me and confidently said "That's exactly what it makes you."

Ivy shook her head like a child and sipped on her Caprisun, thinking mutely. Before Aurora could open her mouth, Ivy started babbling what was on her mind.

"Okay, okay...so maybe I'm a little gay- Or bisexual or whatever, but like, does that really matter? Must I have a label? A whole shocking coming out moment? Just let it be...can we do that? Plus...it's the 90's in Louisiana, do you want me to get into complete hell at school when people find out?"

We all thought about it, exchanging glances here and there. If you think about it, she's right. Not every person with a different sexuality speaks up about it, be it for religion, living in a closed minded environment or fear. However, there are also those who don't come out because they dont want to. Ivy made me realise that. I've always known she liked girls too. Once when we were around ten years old she started talking about Lindsey Kressly as if she were Aphrodite herself, adding how she "loved how her eyes sparkled and how she giggled at her lame math jokes". I also recall a young Ivy telling me she was confused and didn't know what that meant, and now that I think about it, I told her it didn't matter if she didn't know, she could like who she wanted to like. 

Lucas nodded understandingly "The girl has a point. You don't gotta explain yourself, Tulip."

She smiled youthfully and sipped on her Caprisun content with the empathy of her friends, others may not have understood her but they always did. 

"But can we ask...who was the girl?" Said Aurora leaning into her slightly, as if another option were to just whisper it her and keep it between them, which Lucas and I'd call unfair and complain about. One way or another, we were getting this name. 

"Uh...I-I kind of want to...keep that to myself. It was complicated. We...we were complicated." Her look was cold and tired, I realised her eyes were slightly puffy and her eyeballs way too white, perhaps she was too stoned or something, but it looked off, it looked numb. And the scar, sixteen pound weight loss and this general new vibe of hers weren't helping the situation seem cleaner. 

Everyone sort of furrowed their eyebrows, not understanding that part. Because we didn't, what could have been so complicated that made her not want to even tell us her name? It almost seemed like she thought we had malicious intentions, which was never the case. As I was about to open my mouth and muster the somewhat reassuring words I had gathered in my head, Ivy interrupted me with a harsh voice.

"Candy."

We all leaned back somewhat confused. Lucas seemed bewildered.

"Ya girl's name is fuckin' Candy? Who the f-"

"-Is that what you wanted? A first name? Because if so I'll be going to Art class now." Cut in Ivy before Lucas could go on, almost slurring her words.

She grabbed her untouched pudding cup and tossed it into Lucas' tray, then her coat and her bag and she was gone faster than I could blink. Ivy did that a lot. Disappear impulsively. She did it when we were kids too. Not to get too deep into it, but Ivy's parents both didn't really care much for psychology, perhaps they just didn't care for her. However, I know her father adored her, he wanted to take Ivy to a friend of his to get "checked up" because he had noticed a few behavioural patterns that were slightly odd, but her mother claimed bullshit, saying he was probably the reason she was fucked up, that he was a failed father. Therefore, she never got checked up. No one really knows how her head works. She could just be a very different, eccentric, problematic person, however I find that unlikely.

You see, Ivy's parents were madly in love in their teens, a Bonnie and Clyde type of romance, Ivy's dad was a cool dad, per say. He wore leather jackets and rode cool motorcycles, he'd always keep Ivy busy, showing her around town or taking her shopping somewhere, he loved the little girl to pieces. Her mother was a drunk who regretted a lot in life, John Bloom was one of them, she had hopes of studying abroad, becoming a political activist, but she settled for adventure and passion instead. She hated herself, John and Ivy for it.

"Well, that went really well Lucas!" Said Aurora.

"Woah! I didn't do shit, James! You insisted on finding out her name!" Retaliated Lucas with a strong New Yorker accent, which made Aurora giggle and cover her mouth after when she realised it probably wasn't the best time. "I just wanted to find out more! My best friend is gay and I can't know details!?"

"Yeah, tell me about it." Replied Lucas. I watched as Ivy stomped out of the cafeteria with her bag in her hand, and although a common scene, I wouldn't have it. So I got my things, stuffed a handful of fries into my mouth and excused myself from the table to my friends.

"I'm gonna go check on her, you two continue arguing, it's great comedy." I smiled cheekily and left after ruffling Lucas' hair. They yelled things my way but I barely heard due to the speed I was exiting the cafeteria in, by the time I did, I caught a glimpse of Ivy turning left into the hall, I knew she was probably going to the roof, or one of her many hideouts such as the handicapped bathroom, old science lab in the school basement, under the gym room staircase at 11am when there is not a soul around there and last but not least the corner of the building that had two cute tree trunks and was practically underneath the nurses office, our nurse is called Marla, she's a 23 year old who got the job because her mother is Mrs. Green, our English teacher. Marla, frankly doesn't give a fuck, so she lets people smoke or make out there from time to time, one of my favourite memories is smoking a joint with Ivy there and Marla joining in. Legend.

Anyway, she stealthily made her way into the handicapped bathroom, which was installed there for two students who no longer go here, so teenagers tend to invade it from time to time. Ivy, most of the time.

When she walked in, I hesitated for a second, but my suspicion always gets the better of me, she didn't look well, in fact it's not that she didn't look well, she just seemed completely out of it. I walked in and locked the door behind me, something Ivy always forgets to do. It almost looked empty, I wondered if I had hallucinated seeing her walk in here, but seconds later I heard the flushing of a toilet when I turned to the bathroom stall and saw the door slightly open, pushed it farther and met with Bloom's wonderful voice.

"A little fucking privacy maybe!?" I stopped pushing it before I even saw her.

"Bloo?"

"Gray? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." I turned my back and waited for her to come out the stall, and when she did, her puppy eyes told me much more than what she ever could. Ivy Bloom was not okay, and I found it odd that I was the only one noticing.

"Well, I was gonna roll a joint, but I flushed it down the toilet when I heard you come in." Bullshit, I wondered when Ivy started to lie so much, she would never waste good weed, everyone at school smoked and teachers never walk into this bathroom, they couldn't care less, she'd never flush weed down the toilet having that in mind.

"Bloo, are you gonna make me interrogate you? Don't you want this shit to stop already? Just tell me the truth, you know I won't tell."

She walked a bit closer to me, ponytail dangling as she stomped her sparkly boots on the ground, she leaned on the sink, back facing the mirror and huffed loudly when she realised she couldn't not come clean to me. It was me, Gray, her best friend since we were three years old for crying out loud.

"I've started taking pills. Just pills that chill me out..." I nodded for her to continue. She looked me in the eyes and I could tell, I could tell she was as high as a kite right now because the hazel eyes didn't sparkle or look red because she was stoned, they looked dead and tired. "They uh- they help me sleep and they stop me from overthinking and...and having fits."

"Okay, I can understand that. I knew it, kind of. I take medication too, your eyes look puffy as fuck Bloo." I laughed at her, even though it wasn't really a laughing matter, she appreciated the slight shift in the conversation, she looked back for a short second, chuckling at herself in the mirror afterwards "Yeah, I guess I do. You still take medication?"

"Yeah, xanax, mostly. But not everyday, only when I feel like I really need it. It ain't good to get hooked on that shit-"

"-Yeah okay but xanax, right? Those new types of pills and shit. You've taken it, you know the feeling, doesn't it just...make things easier to bare? Like the world goes completely quiet for a few hours and nothing matters." She interrupted me all too eagerly for me to believe she wasn't taking it daily and she wasn't hooked, I recognised it too well, but then again, that was just Ivy, her personality was obsessive, when she liked something, she really liked it. And the worst part is I completely understand her feelings on those type of pills, they did the trick. But it was cheating, cheating yourself. Because once you get hooked, you can't find that type of tranquility anywhere else.

"I get you...unfortunately. I won't judge. But, don't you want to go to a psychiatrist maybe? Get prescription pills? I'll go with you, if you want..." I leaned onto the sinks as well and looked at her hopefully. She looked back at me and I swore I saw the twinkle in her eyes for a split second "You know, no one has ever been as good to me as you have, Gray. I know I ghosted for a fucking year, and I feel really bad about it, but I do care about you, and those two fucking idiots."

That sounded like my Ivy.

"Definitely not going to a fuckin' psychiatrist though, that's some bullshit."

That also sounded like my Ivy.

"Yeah, I expected that answer, it's fine. But!" I said with a wavering finger in the air and Ivy sighed heavily at my scolding "Why are you fucking adding a 'but'" She said while looking at me pleadingly, I refused to fall for her puppy eyes, only dumb people like Lucas fall for that trick.

"Because I can. You have to come clean to Aurora and Lucas, or at least one of them (why did I fucking say that am I trying to start a war!?) and you have to allow me to continue doing my daily checkups."

Ivy furrowed her eyebrows and crossed her arms like a bratty six year old "One of them and weekly visits."

"Fuck that!"

"Or what?"

"I'll tell them myself!"

The girl gasped and I tried to stand confidently but probably looked like a fucking goofy bitch because her reply was "You wouldn't, bitchstick" I put a hand on my chest, imitating a gunshot wound, Ivy giggled, and as she did, I darted out that toilet faster than my lungs could take.

To be honest, I wasn't going to tell them, I was running to my Chemistry class, I tend to avoid social conflict in every way possible, but I knew Ivy would think the worst and follow me either way "Grayson! Fuck!" was all I heard and although funny, it didn't stop me. Somehow, I managed to avoid every person standing in the middle of the hallway, which in our school was everyone because hallways were the gateway to gossip. By the time I'd run down two halls and was missing a single turn down the right hall, Ivy caught up with me and pulled my hair by the very root. Ivy Bloom is absolutely crazy.

"AHHHHHH!"

"One of them and everyday checkups! Pleaseeeeeee! Aurora will fucking kill me, Gray." She had a point, Aurora would kill her because she didn't mess around with any chemicals drugs, she preferred smoking over anything but if she had to dive into any other recreational drug experiences it'd be something more natural like shrooms, she wouldn't tolerate an addiction to something that was titled as a "downer" when she liked to be productive and get shit done, and knowing her she wouldn't be able to cope with seeing Ivy at her worst if this went on or got out of hand.

So I gave in, I'm weak.

"Fine. I'll take what I can get, and you should apologise to my hairline."

Ivy hugged me happily and laughed "I'm very sorry, Sir Blackbrook's- What the fuck!?" Suddenly, she went as pale as a ghost

"You know, my hairline doesn't really have a name, but if it did have one, it wouldn't be "what the fuck", especially with that tone-"

"-No you fucking! Fuck! That's...I know...her"

The girl pointed to the left, my gaze followed her pointed fingernails and they landed on the silhouette of a small, fair skinned girl with long voluminous black curls, tight denim jeans with cherries on the back, what seemed to be a white tank top which completely gave away her red bra (do girls do that on purpose?), I hadn't seen her full face yet, but just by her side profile, plump lips, winged eyeliner, golden hoops and all, I figured I was looking at the wrong girl, Ivy didn't usually hang out with...well, anyone, but she definitely wouldn't hang out with a girl who seemed as put together, hot and seemingly flawless as this one did. That spot was reserved for Aurora. 

"Bloo, what am I looking at?"

"That's her! Perfect looking one? Latina? Baby hair and fucking hoops!?"

"Oh. What do you know her from?"

Ivy looked at me like I was a fucking idiot, and it took one glance at her face for me to realise that I was staring directly at Candy. Which still sounded weird in my head.

Woah, fuck. So, Ivy really did have a girlfriend, or had one.

I was completely shocked. Maybe it was because I didn't know Ivy as well as I thought I did, but I'd never imagined her being with someone not only as girly, but...yeah, as girly as Candy looked. I always thought she'd run away with some rocker chick and become a groupie or something, never the girlfriend of a seemingly popular girl with a really sassy demeanour now that I saw a glimpse of her face. RBF, I know of those who suffer the same problem. Actually now that I thought about my entire friend group had a resting bitch face. Perhaps that's why we clicked.

Who knows. But all I knew is that she wasn't lying, I could tell by the way she was looking at her. Shiny eyes and rosy cheeks, topped off with a hint of guilt and heartbreak.

Yep, definitely staring at Candy right now.

She was talking to the dean with who I'm assuming were her parents, a beautiful mother who shared identical features with her daughter, smile, dewy skin and all, and a father decked out in tattoos and a leather jacket. May I not leave out the golden chains. This guy was a total badass. I noticed Candy smiled frequently, toothy and all, something Ivy didn't do often, she giggled and tossed her wavy hair confidently over her shoulder once and a while, we were far from the only students looking her way. Ivy looked somewhat destroyed, happy and batshit scared all at once.

I didn't know what to say...as usual.

"Grayson, we should run before she sees us. I'm not ready for this shit."

"You sure? I can wait for you and you could go catch up-" The second I finished my words the girl flickered her gaze our way and I swear to god, Ivy Bloom looked like a deer in headlights, and without saying a word she darted past me and towards god knows where, but suddenly she was gone. And Candy, couldn't tear her eyes away from the scene.

Do I move? Should I run too? No, that would be too fishy...and I'm fucking tired from all the running oh god what do I d-

Before I knew it there she was. Right in front of me. Smiling like an angel. Or a devil, I couldn't really tell. Who the hell was this chick? And why can't I think fast enough to run away from these types of situations?

"Hi! I'm Candy Rosario. I'm a...potential new student here, I guess. What's your name?"

Oh fuck, even while she was being nice she had this slight inclination in her tone that made me think she either wanted to destroy my life or sleep with me, I knew it was neither, but I couldn't help but think about it in order to avoid the actual problem and or conversation that was about to happen. But, as Ivy left me alone and I'm a pathetic loser that still cares about her and would do quite almost anything for her, I let the conversation happen.

Now, if it were to go well or not, is another matter which is completely out of my hands. Thanks anxiety, sometimes you're a good excuse.

"Grayson...Blackbrook. But...yeah....ignore the Blackbrook part. Nice to meet you?"

I don't know why I made it sound like a question, I just really can't talk to strangers, on top of that, it's a pretty beautiful stranger who I hope doesn't bump into Lucas Falls because he will eat her up. Lucas has a thing for Latinas, however, in my head I believed Lucas had a thing for everyone.

"Nice to meet you too! I'll ignore the fact that you're literally part of the family of founding fathers, don't worry, totally didn't know that already." I chuckled because she said it with a sweet smile and I started to wonder if anything she could say would even sound remotely alarming, while talking to her, I couldn't help but notice her plump lips and perfectly combed baby hairs. You could tell she took care of herself, and I still didn't understand how Ivy managed to have a fling with a girl like her. In my defence, it's 1995 and homosexuality is not quite common in our area, there's about three openly gay people at our school, and from what I know they get mercilessly teased and sometimes even full on bullied. I never agreed with that and have always thought people should like whoever they want, but the most prominent type of lesbian couples I had seen in my whole life, counting movies and well, porn, sorry reader, there always seemed to be a girly girl and a more masculine looking woman interested in one another. So picturing Ivy and Candy in my head was kind of hard because Ivy fell right in the middle of the line of tomboy and girly and Candy, well, her makeup and style screamed girly, or maybe badass female, I'd ask Aurora later when she saw her or I explained the situation.

Anyway, I don't judge. They're both cute. So why not?

"Well, you're right, I don't know why I bother trying to hide it."

She shook her head lightly and batted her long dark eyelashes at me "No, I totally get it, it sucks when the whole town knows your name and assume who you are."

Woah, not many people understood why I felt so off about my last name.

Candy shook her head and giggled "Anyway, I have a question!"

I was touched by her understanding, as most people disagreed with my fluster towards the subject, saying I should flaunt my status in town or use it to my advantage, whereas I saw it more as something annoying, something that got in the way of me being more relaxed, perhaps I just thought I wasn't good enough to be a Blackbrook, I do have an older brother, 15 years older than me, called Ian, he as you have probably gathered by now, was the perfect child. Now he's off somewhere in Tokyo becoming a world famous architect or something. No biggie. So yeah, then there's me.

I'm just chilling.

"Shoot! Actually, wait, I have a question before I answer yours." Candy's eyebrows appeared more furrowed and she slightly scoffed at my randomness, but smiled and gave in nevertheless, crossing her arms as she gestured for me to speak.

"You probably get this a lot, but is your name actually Candy? As in sugary delightful pieces of candy?"

As expected, she sighed and slightly rolled her eyes, but somehow she still seemed amused by me, as if my awkwardness was somewhat charming to her. "No, not really. My name is Carmela Rosario. In Spanish, 'caramelo' is a way of saying candy, so my family called me Candy growing up, said they didn't want to hear how badly Americans pronounced my actual name. I thank them for that. So yeah, anyway, my turn."

I nodded at her explanation, satisfied that I had found out the meaning of her rare name, and gestured for her to talk just like she did to me.

"That girl you were talking to before...was that Ivy Bloom? Do you know where I could find her?" Asked Candy. I knew that question was coming, and I also knew she was playing dumb because, it was practically impossible for Ivy to have never talked about me in their entire past together, when Ivy really likes you, she doesn't shut up, so it would have been in a matter of seconds after she felt comfortable enough with Candy that she would have mentioned my name. Not being cocky, but we're besties. If not me, then at least Aurora. Lucas...I doubt. Probably if she were ranting, though.

"Uhhhh...Yeah, that was her. But you know that already. And you know who I am too." I grinned. She grinned back. "Maybe, I do." She was cute, nice and had an overall calm vibe about her, seemed like the type of person Aurora and Lucas would like, however, if Ivy continued to avoid her, I assumed a new friendship couldn't exactly be established. Shame. Candy had a little gem on her cheek, she seemed cool.

"I really have to go, I have Chemistry! It was lovely meeting you, Candy! Ivy will kill me if I say something wrong, you should try and find her yourself! Bye!"

And once again, I ran. I didn't know how many times I was going to have to run from people today. But hey, it's a very good solution sometimes. As I arrived to my Chemistry class, I wondered what a dumbfounded Candy would've looked like, as I didn't look back for a second, I couldn't know. Somewhere, I felt for her, wondered what her history with Ivy was and what she possibly could have done that was so bad for Ivy to avoid her that way. However, I had grades to maintain and teachers to nod at, so I quickly stopped thinking about both Hannah Coleman and Ivy  
Bloom. Odd how I spend my day thinking about girls but none in a romantic way. I truly am a loser.

NBB Gas Station, November 8th, 1994; 12:36pm

Aurora's coffee coloured faux fur coat on, hair in a messy bun and makeup somewhat done, somewhat runny, Ivy stood impatiently tapping the glass of the phone booth with her fingernails painted black. She tapped and tapped and tapped and sighed a couple times, but the person inside seemed to be taking forever, or maybe that was just her. Once the person got out, they didn't spare Ivy the irritated gaze they held and spat on the ground, the girl couldn't give two fucks, muttering something incoherent under her breath while shutting herself in the phone booth. It was cold outside, and even a tight space like this felt cosier than the harsh wind blowing around the area.

Trying to get all the quarters she had together and shoving one in frustratedly. She dialled the number she had dialled so damn often lately, the one she knew by heart by now, desperately into the dashboard and clung onto the phone with both hands.

"C'mon, c'mon, answer..."

When someone picked up, Ivy wanted to jump up in the air out of happiness "Hello?"

"Gecko? It's me! Poison Ivy! Can I stop by in a few minutes?"

A long, unexpected sigh was the response to that, Ivy somehow saw this coming, but didn't lose hope due to desperation, still tapping on the glass, this time on the inside, she figured tapping was yet another new nervous habit she had developed.

"Don't have any stuff, Bloom. Only pot"

She scrunched up her nose and mouthed "Fuck!" not only because she knew he was lying, but because Gecko was the only safe place Ivy knew she could get her pills from, and if he didn't give in, she didn't know what she'd do to get them. She just knew she somehow would, and that scared her. "That's bullshit! Ah- fuck, sorry...c'mon man! Just a few pills, you can even count em' by hand!"

"Ivy, I said I ain't got shit. I'm not gonna be able to give you that stuff anymore, you overdoing it, kid."

At the very mention of her "overdoing it", Ivy hit the glass with her fist and got watery eyes afterwards, not knowing whether she was crying about her drugs or the pain on her fist, or both "Fuck! Manny! Don't do this to me, you can't cut me off! It's me!"

Once again, she was met with a sigh "You fucking started this! You did this to me! You can't cut me off? Do you hear me!?" She yelled into the phone, a faint complaint about her needing to hurry up was heard in the background, but all she could focus on was the static heard during the call, and the disappointment she felt with every word or sigh that left Gecko's mouth. He and her were close, she'd even consider him some type of weird best friend in a way, at least in the North, so why the fuck was he doing this to her right now? She thought.

Gecko, real name being Manuel Carrasco, was Ivy's plug she met through a friend of a friend type of thing, he sold quality weed and they bonded over disliking multiple people within the Crow community, so she would stay a while longer than his usual customers, he had a soft spot for her. Manny's sister died years back in a gang war, she was at the wrong place at the wrong time, something Ivy had the habit of doing, so in some way he took her under his wing, assigned himself the role of the big brother, figuring someone had to. And in his head, being a big brother meant he had the responsibility of cutting her off, no matter the complaints he'd receive.

He made the dumb mistake of letting her try Viacodin for fun once, the next day she was asking for some pills, any that had the same effect, he didn't understand how badly she could've used them as a distraction back then, if he knew her as well as he did now, he would have never given her any pill as addictive as those.

She hadn't realised that she'd started crying, perhaps he did before she had because all you could hear through the phone was angsty teenage yelling "You did this to me! Fuck! Shit! Fuck you, Gecko! I'll get it somewhere else then, have a fucking good day!" Yelled Ivy before practically throwing the phone back at the machine and darting out the tiny glass box into the frosty wind of North Blackbrook, Ivy found herself feeling alone and lost, like every other day since she'd moved here. On the way out, she bumped into the next person waiting to go into the phone booth, she didn't even care to check who it was or say anything to them but a faint "Hey! Watch it!" was definitely heard. But the hot tears down Ivy's face wouldn't allow her to concentrate on anyone or anything else rather than escaping and calming down.

Once she reached the back of the gas station, she slid down the wall and cried a bit more. When she had finally stabilised her breath again, she took out the joint she had from her left pocket and lit it. At least she always had weed. But there was something about it that wasn't the same, not anymore, it wasn't like taking pills, to start with. Puff after puff after puff and Ivy still couldn't take her mind off of pills and stupid shit, she always thought it would be much more difficult to get hooked on these type of things, however, we often misunderstand drugs, not only are they addictive, but those who really need them will be the first to abuse, and the first to become addicts too.

Suddenly, small footsteps were heard getting closer, at this point, Ivy didn't even care enough to look at who was standing practically next to her.

"Would you like a slushie?"

Ivy turned her head at that, noting that it was a female voice, with a rather angelic one as well, when she analysed the girl standing there with two slushie cups and straws in each hand, she began to properly analyse her. The Ivy way.

Shiny jet black hair tied in a sleek ponytail with smoothly combed baby hairs, perfect facial features, such as big dark brown eyes that almost looked black with long and girly eyelashes, thin eyebrows, the plumpest lips Ivy had ever seen, the cutest button nose you could come across with a stud on the left side of her nose and a shy smile that decorated her face. She had a white tee shirt tucked into tight leather shorts, knee high boots and dear god let her not forget the fishnets studded with diamonds, the four or five silver necklaces around her neck, small silver hoops and last but not least, a single gem stuck on her cheek. Yep, Ivy could tell she was probably the most bitchy person on earth just by judging the cover. Funny, how some of us still do that. It's also funny how most of the people that do that are either incredibly correct, or terribly wrong.

In this case, Ivy was wrong, for the girl right in front of her was mean when needed and sweet out of nature.

"It's fucking forty six degrees outside...you still drinkin' slushies?" Said Ivy with a raspy, slightly mean voice.

The girl just stared down at her feet and confidently said "When I was like eight or something, I tried a slushie for the first time and my brain almost exploded, it's like I was reborn, so yes, you should be happy and thankful that my sweet ass brought you this slushie" She replied, adding one of those seemingly shy but actually brave smiles at the end of her sentence. Stranger didn't seem to take no for an answer, or at least it seemed like she wasn't leaving till she received a thank you. Recognition for her heroic efforts. Ivy couldn't stand her already. But she was bored as hell, and thirsty as hell, so she saw no other choice.

"What flavour is it?"

"Cherry, duh. Who do you think I am?"

Ivy motioned for the girl to sit down next to her, and the other did with a satisfied expression on her face and a sassy head tilt, passing her a slushie while she was at it. Once she'd sat down and they had put straws into their slushies, the awkward slurping started. Which, is probably why this girl started to speak to her again.

"Name's Candy, I saw you all freaked out by the booth, couldn't help but hear a bit of your conversation, you know, 'cause you were kind of screaming, anyway...are you okay?" The girl had eyes so wide and pretty it felt like you could fall into them, and the generosity she could see in her eyes was quite an unfamiliar view in North Blackbrook. Ivy wondered why she cared. Or why she was pretending to.

"Not okay, no. But I'll live. I'm Ivy." She said, sticking her hand out to shake the other's, which Candy did while laughing "Ivy. Pretty name. Why don't you tell me what happened to you?"

Was she really playing psychologist with her? Could this girl even actually care? Or was she just asking for the chitchat? She seemed like one of those girls that rode in the front seat of convertibles, drank milkshakes with her girl squad and broke hearts in high school, in Ivy's eyes at least, you'd think she'd have a life? Ivy, although usually insecure and unsure of herself, thought that if she apparently had the kindness in her heart to buy her a slushie, then she'd probably not be such a shitty person, whom she could vomit her feelings onto and then never see again to have to be reminded of it! It was perfect!

"Do you want me to be honest?"

"Yeah, I can handle heavy truth!" She said somewhat playfully. Ivy peaked at the way she bit her lips and leaned in curiously.

"Okay, so basically, my ex boyfriend and former best friend of like fourteen years disappeared magically and the police are pieces of shits who can't conduct searches for their life and I couldn't handle all that fire and shit because my anxiety was off the fucking charts-"

While Ivy exploded, which she doesn't do often, and motioned every feeling she felt with her hands waving in the air or some exaggerated gesture, Candy was wearing the most intrigued look on her face ever, it was like looking at a kid who had never seen a whack job, basically, Ivy had never felt so weird and important at the same time as she felt the gorgeous girls' doe eyes pierce over her amused.

"-I ran to fucking North Blackbrook of all places like what the actual fuck, Ivy Clementine Bloom, are you doing going to North Blackbrook like okay yeah I have no other place to go but still man and now! I fucking can't get my goddamn drugs from fucking Manny that little son of a bitch, jesus christ this fucking slushie is cold!" She yelled all that in what seemed like ten seconds, and Candy had the same stunned face as she did before. Just a bit more...impressed?

"Woah..." Was all she could say.

"Yeah, woah..." Ivy said, about to burst into tears again because what on earth was she doing telling this to some random hot stranger who would probably peak in high school or become a famous model and forget about this situation in about five years. Moreover, Ivy was convinced they weren't compatible people, judging by stereotypes and all. By the looks of the cross hanging around her neck, the perfect manicure and the pink lipgloss that smelled like passion fruit from a mile away, they simply wouldn't get along.

"That was amazing! Is this how your panic attacks are all the time? That's fascinating. Estas loca." Said Candy with a smitten face. Ivy had never looked at a person with such mixed thoughts circling her head in her life. What do you even say to that? What did that last part even mean? She started to regret not taking up Spanish freshman year.

"Uhhhh...yeah...pretty much. It sucks."

"It must. That all sounds quite burdening, Miss Ivy Bloom." Of course, she had to have a fucking hot girl voice, you know those girls that can change their tone however they want and control themselves and say exactly what they want to say? That was this girl, thought Ivy. Worst part of that was that it showed bare confidence, which is attractive to everyone on earth.

"Indeed it is, Miss Candy...?"

"Rosario. Don't get your panties twisted trying to pronounce it." Said the girl stretching out her hand this time, of course, the one that wasn't occupied with a giant cherry slushie to shake Ivy's hand again, as if it were the way to seal the fact that they had met. Ivy wondered if she always looked this pretty and relaxed, like she hadn't a worry in the whole entire world. Dazed, almost. She decided she wanted to find out, because that sounded better than getting lost at some party tonight and ending up god knows where with god knows what narcotics in her system. So she shook her hand and tried to smile, failed, but mustered a little grin anyway.

"You seem like a fun girl, Ivy Bloom. I'd stay and chat, but I really have to go-"

Well, party and narcotics it was. At least just for today, she thought. Candy Rosario seemed interesting, that didn't mean she wanted to be her friend, however she couldn't help but think what a different type of crowd would feel like, where she could manage to fit herself in here in North Blackbrook, whether she had just made a friend by accepting that slushie. Ivy decided to take advantage of that. And she was definitely not attracted to her.

At all. Ivy isn't gay, ask her yourself.

"-But we should hang out, you could use a distraction and I'm a good one. Trust me. Take my number and call me as soon as you're free. My boyfriend and I were supposed to meet up like twenty minutes ago, but I couldn't leave a girl with puppy god eyes moping around town by herself. Go home, eat something, dude. Get your shit together"

She told Ivy as she propped herself up and helped her up as well. Hair still perfectly sleeked back,, she bowed formally to Ivy while giggling and started to walk away backwards slowly, heel of her boots clanking against the floor.

"I'll call you, Candy. Don't get too excited!" Replied Ivy with a chuckle at the end.

She couldn't believe she was chuckling when just ten minutes ago she was having a straight up anxiety attack next to a gas station. Therefore, although the general disliking she had for the stereotypes of people Candy Rosario could fit into, she was a genuine sweetheart, and Ivy was somewhat grateful for her nosiness. It wasn't until Candy replied with:

"No promises!"

That Ivy really believed that this random girl would be a definitive candidate for distracting her from thinking about pills or Aiden, or anyone else. She at least wanted to believe that, and perhaps, she was just lonely.

And Candy had a pretty sweet smile.


	4. 278 days before...

Blackbrook Residence; 10th of September at 17:00pm

You know, I've never truly been good at stirring conversations into different directions, especially when I intend on being serious in the middle of a funny conversation. And knowingly, with Lucas Falls, every conversation was a funny conversation. Therefore, how did I bring up Ivy and her sudden pill obsession when my dear friend here was in the middle of a stoned rant about pandas having the capacity to defecate up to forty times a day. 

I really wish I were joking, but I'm not. 

"Like...imagine having so little shit to do, so much free time, that you just decide 'Oh yeah, why not poop thirty plus times that sounds absolutely splendid-" 

Do you see where I'm coming from? 

However, there was always one thing that successfully grasped Lucas' attention every time, and that, whether it was a good or a bad thing (I couldn’t tell) was gossip. He wasn't one to spread it, but he always appreciated a good source of interesting or conflictive information about other people, especially because there was never much gossip about him, he was a faithfully private person and knew how to mind his business well. "Hey, guess what happened earlier today" So, naturally, I brought up my awkward encounter with Candy at school "Is it really worth interrupting my philosophical conversation about pandas?" Asked the boy furrowing his eyebrows, knowing already that the conversation was one sided anyway, I wasn't exactly as stoned as he was to be able to think that profoundly at five in the afternoon, I nodded fiercely "Gossip over pandas?" And he nodded too "Yeah, gossip over pandas. Shoot." Finally, more than half of a second of his attention was granted to me. 

"Remember Ivy's mystery girl? Candy?" I said casually, Lucas lifted his eyebrows, suddenly interested in what I was about to say "What about her?" he asked dryly. 

"Bumped into her in the hallway. Guess who's a potential new student at Blackbrook High." Lucas, who had his legs against the wall of my jungle gym and his back against the floor, instantly captivated by my topic, propped himself up and leaned against the wall, lighting the remainder of his joint as if getting ready for a story "No fucking way? To study? So she's real? Didn't think she was...real" his tone cooling at the end, sparking my inner curiosity yet not enough to make any assumptions. 

"Yep, very real. Very hot. Your perverted ass would melt if you saw her. Also very...not what I expected Ivy to be into. But, hey! Then again, who knows what Ivy is into nowadays." Aha, did you see what I did there? I'd even congratulate myself at attempting to create a transition towards the real matter at hands so early within the conversation, just saying. 

"God knows what Ivy's into, but wait, how hot is she?" Of course he would get hung up on those type of details, sometimes it seems like I forgot I was talking to another Hugh Hefner in the making “She speaks Spanish, don’t know where she’s from though, pretty eyes, pretty hair, kinda perfect looking. Anyway, yeah, god knows what Ivy's into, you're right, North Blackbrook intimidates the hell out of me." 

Please, sweet Jesus just take hint-

"Eh, New York is full of scary shit, up in East Harlem there was plenty of fishy business going on right in front of ya'. North Blackbrook can't be worse, I'm sure she's still her usual, bratty, good lookin' self… that girl scares the shit outta me" He puffed on his joint once more and I had reached my breaking point. I decided there was no smooth way to tell my friend that Bloom had gone off the rails a bit, and yeah, maybe I could've put it in a better way, but I was stressed out, don't judge.

"Also, Ivy's hooked on pills." I spat, attempting to get it over with as fast as possible, this was followed by a series of loud, straining coughs from Lucas, he sat up to try and open his chest and clumsily hit his head on the roof of the jungle gym, twat, now wincing, coughing and sitting back down, he finally replied to my bold statement "Okay, clearly you're joking and it's really not working out for you Gray, we all know I'm the funny one here-"

"Shut the fuck up, Lucas. I'm serious!" I can guarantee that I've said that about one million times in my life ever since I met Lucas Falls, it was inevitable as he never took things seriously, especially me, not in a rude way, in a Falls way. His eyes widened at the panicked tone in my voice, coughing one last time

"...Oh shit. Oh...oh, you're serious."

Let me update you on my current situation; I'm sat outside with Lucas Falls, who is high as a kite probably still thinking about the possibility of flirting with Candy Rosario, on my old playground in my backyard, and I'm trying to somehow convey the gravity of the situation we're in, well, Ivy is in. Of course, that was resulting impossible due to his impeccable attention span and my incapability to make a coherent fucking point while I'm stressed and not entirely sober. "I'm not kidding! Ivy has gone downhill, she's hooked on antidepressants and shit...probably even other stuff I don't know about. I've been quietly panicking ever since she told-“ 

"-Yoooo can she get me some? I've been dying to try that-"

"Are you- Are you fucking stupid?"

The shorter boy slowly nodded, thinking that's what I wanted to hear, or most likely admitting to his stupidity "Wait...so you mean hooked like badly fucked up or just...chilling type of fucked up?" He said after a few seconds, I could feel his high fading away while the concern started to arise.

You may be thinking, it's stupid to tell Lucas about this, him and Ivy have always had a sort of...love hate relationship, they didn't like to admit to each other that they actually got along, as you could probably tell by the constant bickering, death glares and insults between the two of them every five seconds. So why tell him and not Aurora? Well, as I explained previously, Aurora would be very disappointed and for some reason Ivy feared her judgement the most, she didn't want to risk losing her. She knew she would never lose me, simply because we're practically family at this point, but she didn't know to what extent Aurora would be able to tolerate her toxicity. Lucas Falls, on the other hand, couldn't judge anyone if he wanted to. As a person with no shame, fears or prejudices, he could tell you himself that he was an overall happy person. He saw no room for judgement in this world, Lucas often explained to me that he believed we were put on this world to 'constantly fuck up, learn from it, and fuck up a couple times more', as he would say. Although poorly elaborated, I'd like to say I agree. Therefore, I knew that if I told him about Ivy, he would handle the situation with care and delicacy, instead of scolding her he would talk to her or try to make her feel better, because deep down inside he cared for Ivy Bloom just as much as I did.

"Lucas...she's bad. You saw her earlier at the table...she looked like she hadn't slept in years"

Falls let out what was most likely an unconscious giggle "Ivy always looks like that, but yeah, I understand. She looked rough." He sat up straight and put his knees to his chest, leaving the remainder of the joint aside, I saw the questions filling his head. I also saw the hesitation to show that he truly cared for her.

Aurora and I had been trying to find out what "the incident" was for about a year, now we know, of course, but until recently asking the two again, they hadn't told us any specific details. Lucas wouldn't budge. At the time I wondered if now that Ivy was back, she would be willing to tell me. Maybe that would explain the bittersweet expression on Lucas Falls face every time he thought of her.

"Does Aurora know about this?"

"No, the deal was that I could tell you and check up on her every day. Aurora would be pissed."

Understandingly, Lucas nodded and sighed at the situation. "Let me guess; you want my help with the checkups?" I smiled brightly, relieved at the fact that I didn't even have to ask him the question myself and also because I knew he wouldn't be able to deny. Because, you didn't hear it from me, but in reality, Falls was the softest softie in the entire world. He just didn't like to admit to it. Moreover, they lived on the same street and it would literally take no effort from his part. 

"Fine, sure. I'll keep an eye on her...how does this work? We each have different days or what?" He said, beginning to start to take things more seriously. This side of Lucas was a rare view, he barely took anything seriously, Aurora and I have always thought it was a coping mechanism. One thing about Lucas is, the more upset he is, the more energetic he'll be, it's either that or he gets really, really, really stoned. Which isn't quite healthy, but you can't exactly tell Lucas Falls what and what not to do, he never really listens anyway. Either way, I appreciated the fact that he actually wanted to help and wasn't taking the piss out of the situation "Yeah, I figured I could do Tuesdays and Thursdays, the other days I have Poetry Club and...Aurora may or may have not convinced me to join the Drama Club this year-"

"You...Y-You joined the drama club? You? With crippling stage fright?"

Oh yes. Indeed I did. 

You know, I've been thinking about this decision a lot, I made it during a long, lonely night in summer, when I travelled to France, I called Aurora for about two hours, and throughout that talk the topic of fear popped up. I, Grayson Blackbrook can assure you that out of all the scary possibilities in the world, bungee jumping, swimming with sharks, anything you can think of, going up on stage and having everyone's eyes on me, was one of the things I was most frightened of in the world. It all started when I was eight years old, it was October 3rd, National Poetry Day, and all the children were encouraged to attempt to write a poem. Of course, most were about dinosaurs, toy cars or princesses, Ivy's was about lollipops, but I didn't see her getting made fun of. Kids these days. Anyway, I enjoyed poetry. My mother would read me classical poems before bed when I was little, Sonnet 18, A Dream within A Dream, you name it. Therefore, I took the task much more seriously than everyone else and wrote about the importance of friendship, I got the best grade in class, however, I was bullied mercilessly for being all sappy and girly. Ever since then, I hated talking in front of classes, therefore you can imagine the state I would be in if I were to step on an actual stage to perform. But I am. Aurora James made me promise I'd at least try and get over my fear, she wanted to help, I couldn't really deny it. Didn't even think about denying just because she was the person asking, really. 

"Yes, Lucas, this year is the year of questionable decisions. Now, shut the hell up and try and work this out with me!"

He giggled childishly "That's gonna be so good, I'll be at every show of yours, you can autograph my tits!" And then he laughed a bit more, kicked the playhouse due to his laughter fit and covered his face with the palms of his hands. What a dick. 

"Lucas-"

"Sorry! Yeah sure, I just gotta be home sometimes to check in with my ma', I'll take Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. What about weekends?" I questioned whether Ivy was so bad that we'd have to do checkups on the weekend as well. Ivy was never much of a partier, every time there was a house party that we were invited to, her included, she'd almost always stay in, blaming her laziness or saying she wasn't in the mood, which made sense, Ivy always did enjoy silence, she had a thing about her that made silence somewhat peaceful, comfortable even. Either way, we never pushed her too far to go out, Aurora did sometimes, but otherwise, we respected the fact that she sincerely disliked parties, so it's not like she'd go anywhere on weekends, I thought. But I still feared what could happen if she had that much free time on her hands and so little to do or think about. Quite frankly, I sound a bit exaggerated when I say this, however, Ivy Bloom had a very distinct pattern of thinking, she didn't really didn't pay attention to logic, if not impulse, which made me want to make sure she didn't go down the wrong path, especially because I felt that she already had a long time ago. 

"I guess we could let her relax on weekends? We always hang out when we're free anyway...so we'll see her!" I said, Lucas nodded cautiously, I saw a doubt grow in his head "Shouldn't weekends be extremely supervised though? She's more likely to get high with free time..." He had a point, nevertheless, I've already told you about her slightly obsessive personality, I had this gut feeling at the time, I knew she was taking pills every day, her face said it all. Tired, soulless eyes, pale skin which didn't seem like her usual honey tone, slow reflexes, the girl was out of it, so much so that I'm surprised I was the only one that noticed. 

"Ivy is more likely to get high always, period. Getting her off these things won't be easy, we've got to be delicate about this, she can't just stop taking them, it has to be gradually." The green eyed boy nodded understandingly, he seemed to be taking this very well, I expected nothing less of him, however, I wondered how this would play out. Better said, I wondered if they could go an hour without yelling or generally arguing with each other. Lucas suddenly shifted in his spot, interrupting my trail of thought "Okay, I'm in." was all he said before sliding down the slide stuck to the jungle gym, I followed him hurriedly afterwards. 

"Well, it's been real, Blackbrook, but I must take my leave and glide my withering soul away to the skate park-"

“-Lucas, it's Friday..."

His eyes widened "We're starting today!?" All I did was smile, this is why I was so shy to ask at the start. Nevertheless, I had to go to a Poetry Club meeting and it was my only choice. Although I loved Ivy Bloom to bits, poetry was one of the very few anxiety relievers I had, so I wouldn't miss it for the world "Why do you think I was so hesitant to ask? Please, do it for me if not for Ivy?" He rolled his eyes at me. I knew that meant yes. Didn't know if it was for me or for Ivy, probably me. 

"Fuck! Fine, I'll go. She at home right now?" I nodded assuringly, thankful for Lucas' cooperation, he sighed and pulled up his hood, grabbed his skateboard and stuck a cigarette between his lips, a nasty habit he had developed over the past year. I tried to get him to quit, but he always gave me the impression that he was trying to satisfy something in him by smoking, whether anxiety or boredom, Lucas Falls never did anything without a purpose. In fact, it reminded me of the time I went to see Ivy all those months ago, the way she stumbled out with a cigarette packet of her own. I wondered if she still smoked them, whether for anxiety or boredom, Ivy Bloom didn't really have much of a purpose for anything she did "Say hi to her from me, and explain the different shifts. Thank you for doing this, Falls" The boy nodded back at me humbly, lighting his cigarette swiftly and shortly disappearing from my backyard. 

That went surprisingly well, I hoped Ivy wouldn't kill me for dumping Lucas Falls on her, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind as much as she'd say she would, as moody as she is, she had to admit that as people, the two were indisputably similar beings, anti-social stoners and all. I was positively sure they would find something to talk about or do with their time, it could be like that summer they spent stranded in Blackbrook when Aiden, Aurora and I were out of the country. 

However, unlike what went on that summer, I actually wanted to find out what would happen this time. 

Ivy Bloom's House; Marigold Dr. 09 at 18:48pm 

You know, when I first started writing this, I didn't know the entire version of the story. I mean yeah, of course I knew how it began, carried on and ended, and eventually throughout the whole experience I discovered things I didn't know at first, I formulated my opinion visually, through quick, often tense dialogue between the group who was on edge this entire year, I began to tell you this story about Aiden Cohen and my other best friends entirely through my perspective, however, I hadn't bothered asking Ivy, Aurora or Lucas what had happened for them. I was writing things from my point of view, based off of the things I knew and understood, but as humans we often forget that there is always something you don't know that another person could know. Considering the details such as raw emotions only felt by few, diverse opinions and pools of unanswered curiosities others have, I felt it essential to then ask my friends to tell the entire story from their eyes. It is why I can come as near as I do to vividly depicting their emotions at times. 

Unsurprisingly, I got the most innovative insights from Lucas Falls. A man of many feelings and little words. He told me things that completely shifted the entire direction of the story. All those secrets he held actually had meaning in the end, and although battling his urges to tell me or Aurora this whole time, after everything happened he wanted a change, so he came clean. And suddenly, I understood his actions a whole lot better, which made this chapter undeniably easy to write. 

In a few words, there was a lot I had yet to find out about Lucas.

In even fewer words, Lucas hates the rain. 

If truth be told, he recalled a time when he was sitting in the rain for about an hour by himself because his father had forgotten to pick him up from piano lessons that day, which was actually a regular occurrence, but that specific day was one that he often looked back on. He was six. It hadn't rained that hard in New York in a while, and he sat on the sidewalk with his small, useless red umbrella that did as much as his wooly scarf, newsboy cap and puffer jacket was doing to keep him warm. All items failed to do so. He remembers shivering under the pouring rain all too well, nose red, skin pale and eyes streaming with tears that fell much slower and softer than the rain before him. And to think that in all of East Harlem, only one lady stopped to check on him. She bought him hot chocolate and a sugar donut in a diner nearby. Lucas said her name was Diana, she was young, brunette, kind of looked like Snow White, he said. Lucas didn't understand why but it was one of his most vivid memories. 

Of course, he also remembers his father storming into the diner about two hours later. Two and a half hours, in fact. He yelled at him for not being in his spot, threatened to beat him because he disobeyed him, the lady interfered and tried to tell him it was her fault but Lucas' dad was already dragging the boy out the dining booth by his arm, grasp painfully tight, he remembers her following them outside the diner worriedly and watching them drive off in his dad's car. The same one he got into a car crash in four and a half years later and passed away in. It was raining that day too. 

You see, due to those experiences and the fact that he couldn't decide whether he was thankful for it being rainy the second time round, he hated the rain. He only had bad memories in the rain, whether his father was a good person or not was out of the question, it was a death within the family, which his mother and him claimed was the only downside of his death. Nevertheless, they treated the subject as something tragic for the sake of not disturbing the dead, otherwise, Christopher Mason Falls was a son of a bitch. 

However, if you asked him why he hated the rain, never in a million years would he tell you the truth, I had to pry that answer out of him, he would most likely answer with something a bit more Falls-y. Such as:

"Can't skate when it rains."

"Joint goes out faster."

"Who fucking likes the cold anyway!?."

And the list goes on. And although those weren't entirely false, they weren't the whole truth either. 

So, as a boy who deeply hated rain, he asked himself what on earth he was doing walking in the middle of a mild drizzle, one he could tell would begin to intensify if he didn't reach Ivy's house soon. Oh yeah, that's why he was doing this, Ivy. 

Lucas asked himself if she was really as bad as I had said she was, I did tend to dramatise things, Lucas never figured out if it was because I was a straight up clown or if it was because of my anxiety and tendency to think the worst of any situation. Either way, he trotted through the puddles that began to form themselves along the road where the two lived. Aurora and I practically lived on the other side of South Blackbrook, in fact, Ivy's and Lucas' houses were all the way on the Western side of Southern Blackbrook, down a road that practically consisted of five houses. Mr Jenkins and his fifteen cats, the Green family that Ivy suspected had a grow room in their basement, Lucas and Sandra Falls, who coincidentally moved almost right next to her, something eleven year old Ivy regretted deeply, and finally, there was an empty house in between of theirs. No one had moved into it in the last six years, the rest of us had a theory that it was haunted, haunted or not, we used to explore it when we were younger, thinking it was the coolest thing in the world, I often wish we could go back to those days, where everything was much simpler, complete. And then, of course, as the road ended in a little circle that seemed to be a dead end, Ivy's house was right in the middle, you could see it from the start of the street. Lights turned on inside on the bottom floor, and the top left room, Ivy's room. It'd been two years since I last saw the lights in her mother's room on. She mentioned that when her mother wasn't visiting, so usually, she didn't even go to that side of the house, said it reminded her not only of her irresponsible mother, which infuriated her, but also of her father, which deeply saddened her.

The boy stopped at his house to leave his skateboard, which thanks to the rain was barely needed, he made sure his mother was eating dinner and kissed her on the forehead, briefly explaining that he was gonna go study with Ivy, she simply nodded, reminded him to grab an umbrella on the way out, he didn't, and he was gone. Now, standing in front of Ivy Bloom's front door.

Why was he nervous? They'd hung out together millions of times before, so why was this feeling, of standing in front of her house with somewhat a glint of hope in his eyes, affecting him so obnoxiously? When on Earth has Lucas Falls genuinely been nervous? The last time he recalled feeling nervous was when he stole a twenty dollar bill from his mother's purse once when he was nine, which he confessed two hours after having done it with tears streaming down his face as his mother laughed at him. 

A true momma's boy at his finest. 

As the raindrops dripped onto the floor, falling from the strands of his fringe, he imagined the many possible ways he could knock on the door. Should he knock once? Twice? Would that make a difference? He doubted it, but opted to ringing the doorbell instead, lifting up his pants and brushing his hair back nervously. The fact that he noticed he was nervous, made him even more nervous, and this most certainly wasn't Lucas behaviour, making him question who he was for about three seconds, then he heard a dog bark, so naturally, he looked in the direction of the bark and tried to find a dog, forgetting about who he was waiting on. 

He whistled loudly, to which he received a series of barks in reply. Dazed and determined to find the pup, he hadn't even realised who had just swung open the door. Figure petite as ever and stance lazy yet surprised by the boy in front of her, she watched him whistle loudly once more, most certainly deafening her ears in the process and causing her to shriek. When Lucas made eye contact with her, his eyes wide and green as ever, mirroring the same shocked expression Ivy's hazel eyes did

It was raining ever so faintly, and she was faintly beautiful. 

"Tulip!"

"Why the fuck were you whistling, Falls!? You calling me down like a dog or something?" He giggled at the irony of the situation, considering he genuinely was looking for a dog, the girl pressed her finger against her ear which was now pounding thanks to the boy in front of him. What a great start, Lucas thought "I heard a dog! Though it might've been Doobie or something..."

And let me remind you, this is the same guy that is known for having every girl swooning over him and his horribly consistent charm, hell, even Aurora and him had a thing for like three weeks before they realised they were better off friends. Literally, every girl at school. Except one, of course. 

"I highly doubt your fat pug is running around in a storm. Your mom is home anyway, saw her pull up with her groceries and helped her in, I missed her." 

I missed you, he thought, yet didn't say. 

You know, Ivy's return hadn't exactly settled in Lucas' brain yet. He still couldn't believe it. There she was, right in front of him, grin as gentle as ever, oversized flannel hugging her body, accentuating her curves and kissing her golden skin that had now fallen pale. And although she looked different, acted slightly more relaxed, numb if you could say so, tired, although she didn't exactly look like the old Ivy; hair short, brown and bouncy, smile bright and wide, no scars nor pale skin, the boy still managed to stare at her for a second far too long, mesmerised by the history he found within her eyes, mesmerised by the little of said history that had ever come out of her mouth. Does she even remember? He doesn't dwell on this very long, he knows she does remember, you can tell when she looks at him, wondered if she thought about it as much as he did. He doesn't dwell on that very long either. Instead, he dwelled on her lips, eyes, figure, quite obviously as well, Lucas didn't see the need in hiding it, she knew how he felt, discreet or not. Perhaps it was this obvious staring which brought upon a silence between the two. And awkward one. Which was rare for them, usually as comfortable as can be in each other's presence, contrary to what Aurora and I might have thought. 

I learnt that almost all of the things I assumed of the two's relationship, was completely wrong.

"Yeah? She missed you too, kept on asking me what you were doing these days..." She smiled kindly, pressing her lips into a thin line once he finished his sentence, then shoving her hands into her pockets because of the sudden awkwardness that had settled between the two of them "Anyway! I'm here to babysit." he smiled foolishly. Somehow secretly enjoying the satisfaction of having to keep an eye on her, especially because for once it wasn't him getting carried away with drugs, not that junkies were a rare sight to see or anything, I'm not particularly proud of it (although I must admit sometimes I think it's cool, sue me) especially because this town was practically founded and run by my ancestors and all, but Blackbrook was quite known for it's association to narcotics. Rumour has it that within the North of Blackbrook there's a beyond successful drug cartel that runs product in and out of the US, hundreds of people here talked about it, pretty much all the people who inhabit this town which consisted of exactly 6,743 civilians. 6,742 when that old man from the NBB Blackbrook Gas Station died, which could be any minute taking into account the man's age, I heard he's almost 100 years old and still going strong. Where was I? Sorry, I get off track easily, basically, from what I have gathered by eavesdropping on my family's countless meetings with unknown figures who held some type of status within Blackbrook, police were more than aware of the situation, in fact, people suspect they have some type of deal between the two, most likely concerning the cops turning a blind eye on their entire operation. 

Anyway, it wasn't like Lucas was completely hooked on drugs, such as the many junkies we can avidly see around North, he was just particularly fond of the feeling you get when you're high, there was a certain silence in your head that only permitted the most extravagant, mind hazing thoughts, relevant or not, the boy enjoyed the bliss moments where he could space out and not worry about anything the most. 

Oh, and don't even get me started on his passion for hallucinogenic mushrooms. 

"Babysit? What do you mean?" Said the girl confusedly, hugging her flannel even tighter to her body. Lucas chuckled "Come on, Tulip. You're a smart girl, connect the dots." So she did, having given it enough thought, she sighed deeply "Oh...didn't know the checkup thing was serious." Said Ivy opening up the door more, gesturing for Lucas to come in. The boy hadn't set a foot in this house in ages, so much so that he managed to forget the smell of the house, the view from her porch that showed the long, narrow street that showed the entirety of Marigold Dr, hell, he'd even forgotten where she put what in the house. Of course, the house still smelled of weed and yankee candles, but everything within it seemed unfamiliar, Ivy Bloom including. 

The scar on her face, bags under her eyes and natural frown were different from the jovial depiction of a fourteen year old Ivy, which is the Ivy he remembered best. Now, seventeen, long bleached hair that seemed far too dry to be healthy, an overall numbness that oozed from her eyes and the sixteen pounds less on her petite figure, Lucas Falls still considered her the most beautiful girl on the planet, but with this sudden change in self, he figured she was not his any longer. 

Not that she ever was, anyway. 

"Yeah, Grayson came to beg for my help, said it was easier since I lived next door. I take Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, he does the rest." Said Lucas, taking off his wet jacket and hoodie in the process, left with only a simple white tee, his black skinny jeans and black and white checkered vans that should have been worn a different day due to the humidity he felt in his shoe, which he took off as well "Okay, I think I can live with that. Come sit, I was about to start smoking..." He smiled at the way she gave in so easily, hoping somewhere in her that she wanted him to stay. 

She really didn't. 

Flashback time! 

The last time Lucas and Ivy saw each other, was the famous, persistently talked about, incident. Now in order to explain the name we call it, I have to go back a year in our timeline, about three weeks after Aiden was reported missing. As Cohen's do, Aiden's family lost hope, very quickly for that matter. After sending cops, firemen, government officials and any contacts they could think of all around Louisiana, and the rest of the USA for that matter, they decided to spare their misery, as hoping for him to turn up and never doing so was far more painful than accepting their loss. For some reason, in order for them to properly grieve and mourn the suspected loss of their son, they decided to organise a funeral. There was no body found and a large chance he was alive if you were optimistic enough, but it seemed as if no one really was. I remember talking to Ivy, Aurora and Lucas about it. We hadn't really talked much those three weeks of silence, Ivy claimed she was too worried, wouldn't eat, sleep...it was bad. Aurora and I talked, she was there for me at my worst, daring to bawl my eyes out with her multiple times. Lucas, began regularly smoking cigarettes, something he swore he would never do. The three of us planned on not attending the funeral, none of us believed he was dead. Just saying that, the mere thought of it, sent chills down my entire body. It couldn't be, I wouldn't let it be. During one of my first panic attacks when I was told he was missing, I went completely ballistic and put a board with a map of Blackbrook, I went around town and gathered every single piece of information a panicked sixteen year old boy could, which resulted in the map being hoarded with thumb tacks all over it, it seemed like within just a few days I was making more progress than the cops just by asking kids from school and neighbours. Not to flex, but I am kind of...Grayson Blackbrook, people can't and simply don't lie to me around town. Plus, I brought loads of the people I questioned cookies. 

However, no matter how far I got, things didn't add up. Many people had complicated, diverse versions of when and where they last saw him, and given the fact that Aiden was literally supposed to be in Germany all summer, it was far too much for my fragile brain to comprehend. So like everyone else, I stopped looking. I still knew he was a live, I just did. But opted for accepting that I wasn't the correct person to find him, it was consuming me with anxiety. 

We were all on edge those few weeks, hadn't seen Ivy much at all. Lucas, Aurora and I had all come back from our trips, urgently, of course, and up until the day of the funeral, 2nd of September, 1991, we had only seen her twice. I even heard that when the policed questioned her, stating that a few people saw them together around Blackbrook during the summer, she denied everything, moodily and with a hurt glint in her eyes. During and after the funeral, we didn't talk much either, although it was more of a close family and friends event, there was more people than expected, which caused Aurora and I to be the only ones that gave a speech. Ivy was too hurt and Lucas was too stunned, had been sneakily drinking from his flask the whole time too, a speech simply wasn't a good idea. 

The event was held near Willow Lake, not too far from the empty shed we found when we were ten years old, it had a first aid kit, toolboxes and a cooler, but over the years we filled it with chairs, a couch and a boombox, slowly but surely claiming it as ours. The funeral was as funerals are, horribly sad and morbid. Everyone there was convinced he was gone, I even saw the hope leave Aurora's eyes as she spoke speech, accidentally using past tense when talking about Aiden. She didn't talk about it, but everyone noticed. We left together to get milkshakes right after the funeral, and as for Ivy and Lucas, we saw Lucas walk off before the ceremony even ended, Ivy didn't care for much interaction with anyone. Or so I thought. 

"Bloom? 'The hell you doing here?" Slurred Lucas ever so carelessly, barely lifting his head to see who had just walked in, drank too much and cared too little. 

"Making sure you don't make a fool out of yourself on Aiden's day." Replied Ivy, taking a seat on the small stool that was knocked over by Lucas earlier. She didn't even question his drunken state, heck, if she were any more apathetic than she was, she would also be drunk and away from the ceremony, a ceremony she viewed useless, being a bearer of truth. She didn't understand why she couldn't bring herself to tell anyone. But that was a more complex, and sentimental explanation better told another time "Someone has to keep their shit together. With Grayson losing his mind and Aurora babysitting him, never thought I'd say this, but I guess it's me. Trying to act...somewhat okay." 

Lucas couldn't even lift his gaze and look at her. He knew something weird had gone on. Ivy had an incredibly nasty scar on her left eyebrow, it pierced right through it, kind of looked like a really big cat scratch. Moreover, he saw Ivy unloading boxes into a car a few days before the funeral, which had him up the whole night. Him and her hadn't really talked a lot throughout summer, more precisely, Ivy didn't talk to Lucas a lot throughout summer. He went to Sicily for most of it, visiting relatives he barely ever saw, tried to not think about the things that could have happened if he had stayed in Blackbrook instead. 

"Oh yeah, trying to act okay...we wouldn't want anyone suspecting anything weird, now, would we?" He said bitterly, lifting up his head solely to sigh and look at Ivy coldly, wondering if his suspicions were correct. He knew they were once he managed to look at Ivy in the eyes, the usual glimmer they held being absent. She shook her head confused, confused as to how on earth he could read her so well "What are you talking about?" 

Lucas chuckled drunkenly, he honestly had no idea what he was talking about, he just knew something was off "Don't know, but you do." Ivy shifted uncomfortably on the stool, not really knowing what to answer. 

"Lucas...you're dunk. Stop spitting nonsense-"

"W-What's that scar...on your face? You been in a fight or somethin'? Shit looks painful." 

Once again, the girl had absolutely nothing to say. She didn't know who she could talk to, whether it was okay for her to tell anyone anything about her doings this summer, she decided it wasn't. And although not morally correct, lying would be a safer bet. Ivy Bloom was a strong believer in keeping things to yourself.

"Not a fight. I was hanging out with some people in the forest next to mine, got extremely wasted and slipped, hit my head on a rock, got about four stitches. Lovely summer memory..." 

Bullshit. Lucas couldn't believe he was sitting here, drunk out of his mind, in front of the girl he thought so much of but told so little, actually listening to her lies. Ivy didn't hang out with anyone else but her usual group of friends. Lucas knew she was lying, and dear god was she good at it, but it's not everyday a boy such as Lucas pays such close attention to her. 

Well, perhaps Lucas had always paid attention to her. 

Nevertheless, he let it slide. Too intoxicated to question it. 

The two sat there in a time consuming silence, Lucas didn't really understand what intentions Ivy had, or whether she was there for a specific reason, because for the first time in a while, he didn't want anyones company, not even hers. He passed her the bottle of vodka mixed with some type of juice that was hiding behind his figure, she accepted in silence and the two went on passing It back and forth for a good fifteen minutes or so, the silence was beginning to irritate Lucas, in fact, he couldn't stand it anymore "Jesus fucking Christ, Ivy! Clearly something is going on with you, not that I would know, of course, and then you just sit here after three months of pretending like- Ah, fuck! Forget it..." he managed to shut up at some point, attempting to shield the little dignity he had left at that point. Ivy just stared at him glassy eyed, as if she were expecting that since the second she came inside the shed. 

"Are you...are you gonna say something-"

"I'm moving to North Blackbrook." Said the girl immediately cutting him off. 

Oh, Lucas thought. Perhaps this was the alcohol talking, but the only thing that could come to mind at the time, was "Oh." That definitely wasn't something he had ever expected. Seeing her load up boxes into a random car the other day made the thought cross his mind, however, he had attempted to not think so drastically, to not give it importance. Turns out it he was wrong to not do so. 

"It's um...it's too much here? I don't know if you understand what I mean by that..." His mind immediately went to Aiden. Of course, he thought. Aiden was gone, she no longer had a reason to stick around. Were the rumours true? Lucas wasn't dumb, not entirely at least, he was good friends with the skaters at Blackbrook's local skate park, and he went to the record shop at least three times a week, he heard people talk of seeing the two venturing around the town late at night, he chose not to believe them because it didn't make sense, given the fact Cohen was meant to be in Germany partying his brains out, and also, so that he could stop considering the possibility of Ivy not talking to him all summer because she was with someone else. 

Especially since that someone else happened to be Aiden Cohen, her supposed crush since anyone could remember. 

"Yeah, I think...I think I get what you mean, Tulip." The last two words came as somewhat of a whisper, making it quite clear to Ivy that his feelings had been tainted by her desire to leave, she sighed, knowing he wouldn't entirely understand because in all honesty neither did she, and as much as I'd like to explain, Ivy's motives for leaving were a suitable for another chapter, too complex for me to get into at the moment. 

"It's just...a lot of things to process at once, I need to get out of here, even if it's just for a while, my dad used to have a place there with a friend…I've arranged everything with my mum, you're looking at Crow Academy's newest student." She attempted to add a hint of enthusiasm at the end of her words, but Ivy's never been the most enthusiastic person anyway. 

Lucas was stunned. As stunned as he was right now, in the present, staring at her as he doubted whether he should truly express what he had on his mind: Why did you really leave? Why didn't you visit? Did you miss us? Me? Did you even think about me? There were various selfish questions roaming around his mind, however, as selfless boys do, they never actually left his lips, putting himself first was never a habit of Lucas', didn't think the burden was worth it, everyone had their own problems, after all. Everyone had their own problems, why bother burdening Ivy with all his queries? As he walked further into her house, staring at the back of her head as the bun bounced on top of it, he wasn't used to seeing her long hair, sadly enough he wasn't used to seeing her at all anymore, and although an unfamiliar sight, thinner and blonde, it was a tremendous breath of fresh air for the boy. 

I won't continue elaborating on this flashback further, I feel as if the ending of it will be much more relevant on a different day, I wouldn’t want to overdose you on sappiness, this entire chapter is more than enough for me, do you understand how hard it is for me to constantly use romantic vocabulary? Me? Grayson Blackbrook?

You get the point, anyway…

"Want coke?" Lucas’ shoes squeaked on the floor at the scare, Ivy covered her ears abruptly, now facing the shocked boy with furrowed brows “What!? You do coke too!? Ivy, I thought it was just pills-“ The girl flicked him on the forehead, sighed deeply and walked over to the kitchen without saying a word. Lucas really never knew what to expect from this girl, so he silently walked over to her couch and made himself at home, grazing her legendary orange cotton couch gently as if for the first time ever. He missed this house. 

Ivy walked back with two cans of Coca Cola in her hand, offering one to the Lucas with a smug look on her face. Great, now he felt like an ass for assuming she was a coke addict “In my defence, Grayson described your situation as a very worrying one, I’m prepared for the worst. Especially since you don’t tell me anything anymore.” She hissed at his pettiness, taking a seat on the very left part of the couch, leaving a tense gap between the two “When did you get so petty, Falls?” Answered Ivy, sipping her can and pretending like guilt didn’t consume her internally.

“Exactly when you disappeared, if I may be honest. You smoking?” He gestured towards the lighter and weed on the table, she nudged her head towards it, allowing him to grab the utilities and roll “Huh, you seem really upset about me moving away, why is that?" Lucas gasped exaggeratedly, proving his disbelief towards her sneaky attitude. She knows why. Plus, it's not like he was the only one who was upset. 

"Don't play dumb, you know why." Straight to the point, as usual. There was never a time in the world where he didn’t speak his mind, especially to Ivy, in his eyes, they had nothing to hide from each other. 

Ivy begged to differ.

They sat there in silence for a while, asking about each other’s day and occasionally chatting about school gossip, somehow the silence symbolised the mouthful of words she wanted to say to him, they both knew the silence was a choice, not a direct consequence of her actions, and although a painful silence for Lucas, they both quietly basked in each other’s company as if for the first time in ages. Awkwardness aside, laughter was inevitable, as well as the twinkle in his eyes when studying the features of her face, upturned nose, defined eyebrows which were decorated by the famous slightly faded scar, looking at Ivy Bloom seemed to be more time consuming than exploring hundreds of art galleries, and to Lucas, far more detailed as well. 

As rain began to pour intensely, Ivy turned on the fireplace which was underneath her TV and huddled onto the couch, curling into a cozy position, now slightly leaning on Lucas as the night took its turn and comfort settled in. It was only when he stopped enquiring her of her whereabouts and decisions that Ivy seemed more at peace, comfortable. Lucas took it upon himself to note that it was clearly a sensitive topic for her and he intended on making that clear to Grayson and Aurora, now that she was back, was there truly a rush for insight? Must she tell them everything and constantly be put on the spot? Lucas thought otherwise, although valuable information for Aiden’s case may live in her head, it must’ve been hard to muster the courage to do so much as tell us that she knew more than we did, let alone explain it all bit by bit. In fact, he didn't understand how she was so blasé towards the checkups him and I had organised, rationally because she enjoyed our company too much to complain, but either way, it was practically a set up to watch over her due to distrust on our part, the sad part being Ivy being silently aware of that, most likely agreeing too. 

And then Lucas looked at her, cozily leaning onto his shoulder as Beetlejuice shined on the screen of her TV, and it was this longing stare that made him realise that at the end of the day, queries and confusion aside, Ivy Bloom was back, and she was leaning on his shoulder munching on chips as if she had never left, the usual sparkle in her eyes dimmed but present. 

It wasn’t just gratefulness he felt, unchangingly, Lucas found himself completely in awe of this idiot. 

“You know what?” Muttered Lucas almost inaudibly, as if hesitating to say what he wanted “This may be extremely cheesy, and also a bit sappy-” Ivy looked at him whimsically, her cheek pressed onto his shoulder as if they’d never hurt each other in the past, a weakness of his, his only weakness, if you may 

“Actually, never mind, eat your popcorn.” Hazily, she giggled at his hesitation, knowing exactly what he wasn’t going to say but not wanting to admit it. But then again, she couldn’t really help but feel the same way, and for once, she decided he deserved to know that. 

“I missed you too, Falls.” It came out so nonchalantly, Lucas almost failed to notice the sincerity in her statement, not believing her for a second due to his skepticism and her consistent lying skills, but skepticism and lying aside, the boy couldn’t help but notice the way she snuggled into him by default, the way her chest rose and fell when she breathed and the melodic sound of her laughter which inevitably escaped her petite frame from time to time, Lucas couldn’t help but notice how incredibly infatuated he still was with Ivy Bloom. And he cursed himself and her for it. 

It was a bittersweet realisation, you see, not only did he know the warmth of his body near her meant nothing to her, due to her bad habit of cuddling with every living thing, but he also knew that by the time the rain stopped, or the clock stroke twelve, that they would go their separate ways and Ivy would deny all sentiment accompanying the two. Because it’s how she worked, you see, Ivy didn’t admit her feelings to anyone, not even herself, and whether she truly liked Lucas or not, she’d probably keep it to herself either way seeing as she had no time for a relationship and was certain she’d doom whoever cared about her, that’s where Ivy’s iconic pessimism comes in. As well as her ability to fall asleep at the speed of light, because when the boy looked over once more, he found her fast asleep on his shoulder, head falling ever so swiftly. He chuckled wholeheartedly at her delicacy.

Turning off the TV and checking the time, eleven thirty at night, he lifted the small girl into his arms and carried her up the creaky wooden stairs of her big lonely house, bridal style, of course. Setting her down gently in bed and covering her with at least two woolly blankets, he brushed the hair out of her face with his slender fingers, reminiscing the picture of her bright smile, one that had seemed dimmer as the years passed. 

He left a note on her bedside table that read; “Missed you more, enjoy your sleep, jackass” and frowned at the fact that he didn’t have the courage to tell her himself. Perhaps he did, however, he knew an ‘I miss you’ was different coming from him than it was coming from her. 

That’s what he thought, at least. 

Looking at her fragile complexion one last time, eyebrows furrowed even in her sleep, most likely burdened by the nightmares she couldn’t contain. He sighed deeply. It was nearing twelve o’clock and Lucas’ mom would be expecting him by now, so he turned off all her lights, cleaned up the mess they had made with dozens of bags of chips, set her alarm for seven and left her house swiftly, running towards his house in the pouring rain. But of course, amongst the fog and unsettling storm, he looked at her window one last time before heading into his house, and despite no true vision of the girl, he knew the beauty slept safe and soundly, pleasing his heart in the process. 

It was raining even harder now, and Lucas was sure, she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.


End file.
